Morning Will Come
by emication
Summary: Gundam Wing story set during WWII.
1. Introduction

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Morning Will Come 

                        Introduction

The story that continues as follows is as historically accurate as possible. I would like the story to be enjoyed to the full extent, but please, when reading, keep in mind that there was a lot of factual information going into this story to be forced in the reader's face.

First of all, the story is "EU?" because it takes place _before_ AC 195. Usually EU is anything after the series, but since the story still takes place in the same world, just an earlier time, I wasn't exactly certain how to classify this.

Also keep in mind that the characters' reactions to certain situations will most likely be different. There's a reason for why I portrayed everyone the way I did. 

Duo _had_ a family in this story, and he grew up in a house, went to school, and lived with his parents and older brother. He probably is going to be more religious in this because that's how people were raised back then and he hadn't had any real reasons to doubt his religious teachings until his father died. In case anyone's wondering, Duo got his father's business because his brother was a college and, frankly, didn't want it. 

Heero will be different because he hadn't been trained to be a soldier all his life. His emotions weren't forced away and he's more used to being around people and less mission oriented. It's obvious that he won't be the perfect soldier in this story, but he strives hard to be.

Um…Trowa might seem like a hard ass, but look at what he went through! He has an excuse to be a little bitter. And no one complain that I have Quatre working for Duo! Duo may be the big cheese, but Quatre's job in the business isn't only necessary, it's pretty damn important! And I couldn't think of any other way to fit him in… -_-;;

I'm thinking the title will be explained in an appendix or whatever that will be written after the story's conclusion. We all know I'll forget something here or have tons more to add at the end, so that's why it's going to be there.

I can't stress this story enough. The idea just came out of the blue and it's been pestering me ever since; my muses wouldn't rest until they saw this through. I tried very hard for this to be accurate, but feel free to correct me if you know more than I do. Don't take this story lightly! I happened. Not exactly in this way that will be told (that'd be weird if this was coincidentally based on truth, neh?), but it was common enough.

Plot Holes: How did Duo get into Japan if they've been at war for 10 years at that point in the story? Why wasn't Heero in the Japanese military? How was homosexuality viewed in the 1940s? Why didn't Duo get drafted or anything for the war? Why didn't Duo get arrested when it was clearly known that he was associated with someone who happened to be Japanese? There's probably more. Ignore these facts and you'll be fine.

For those of you who don't know, Friday, December 7, 2001 is the sixtieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. That knowledge is the seed that turned up this story. Feel free to yell at me if I'm not keeping the parts coming out. Questions, concerns, comments, clarifications, et cetera can be emailed to me at the address above.

Thank you and enjoy.


	2. Part One

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Story's from Duo's POV, so you aren't supposed to understand the Japanese because he doesn't. -=shrug=- If I screwed up, sorry. I'm using a dictionary not actual knowledge of the language. I think I get lazy and the translations become literal, but it's there for effect not fact!

Morning Will Come 

                        Part One

April 7, 1941 

Duo Maxwell shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Something kept jabbing his ribs, and it was slowly bringing him out of a deep slumber. He muttered something unintelligible and tried to move away, but his confined location made that nearly impossible and he practically fell out of the seat into the aisle.

His arms flailed wildly, grabbing the seat in front of him before he hit the floor, and pulling himself back up. Duo ran his fingers through chestnut hair, making sure there was no blood from when his head hit the armrest. Satisfied that there was no damage, he gave the young woman next to him a sleepy glare, which only sent her into a fit of giggles.

Duo crossed his arms stubbornly. "I don't see what's so funny."

His secretary, Hilde Schbeiker, was trying hard to suppress the laughter. She was a small woman, but what she lacked in size she made up for three-fold with energy. Hilde was always looking for the humorous side of a situation, making the most of everything. Duo had known her since childhood and didn't hesitate in letting her work for him, but that wasn't just because of their close friendship. Besides the mirth Hilde carried in her crystal blue eyes, there was also a deep level of intelligence. Of course, if Duo had called Hilde his secretary to her face, he probably would have gotten hit. She preferred the title _personal assistant_. It was true, though. Duo didn't know what he'd do without her.

"Are you done, now?" Duo asked, playing with the end of his braid.

Hilde smiled playfully. "Yeah, I'm fine. The Captain said we'll be landing at Hiroshima in fifteen minutes or so, but _you_ didn't hear because you were _snoring_ the whole flight!"

Duo scowled. "I was not."

The woman nodded furiously, causing her dark bangs to bounce in front of her eyes. "Yes you were, Duo Maxwell! You were just lucky that no one complained to the stewardess about it."

"Liar."

"Excuse me, everyone? The Captain asked me to inform you that we will be landing at Hiroshima shortly. If everyone could remain seated for the next few minutes will be greatly appreciated. Thank you."

Duo gulped and tightened the seatbelt at his waist. He hated flying. Those damn planes always had to land and takeoff so nauseatingly. He sighed, leaning back into the seat, and closing his eyes.

*~**~*

_Oh God we're going to get lost. How the hell am I supposed to be able to read that?_ "Er…Hilde? You didn't learn how to read Japanese on the flight over, by any chance, did you?" Duo had learned the basics to get around, but he knew they would be in big trouble if they got lost.

Hilde rolled her eyes. "Duo…I can't believe _I_ work for _you_. The contact said they would send a driver."

Duo looked around and couldn't help but feel…out of place. Everyone here was, well, Japanese. _'Course, Maxwell, not only are you a stranger in a strange land and attracting attention because of that, you also have a three-foot long braid that makes you a little less subtle._ "Hild'?" He pointed to a man in a black suit with a sign reading 'Maxwell D. from America' on it.

"All right. I'll go get our luggage. Don't go anywhere!"

Duo flashed his assistant his most charming smile. "Why would I go anywhere? Hilde, you know I'm lost without you." He turned away before he could catch her response and waved at the Japanese man. "Watashi wa Maxwell desu," he said awkwardly, hoping he got the pronunciation close enough. "Eigo ga dekimasu ka?" Duo mentally crossed his fingers. _Please say yes…please say yes…please say yes…_

"Yes…yes…but not much. You have bags?"

"Yes. My…friend is getting them."

Hilde returned a few minutes later dragging the luggage behind her. "We all set?"

Duo nodded. "This is our driver," jerking a thumb in the man's direction.

Hilde bowed her head. "Konnichi wa. Watashi wa Hilde desu. O-namae wa nan desu ka?" She shot her supervisor a cheeky smile; he gaped at her incredulously.

The man bowed in response. "Watashi no namae wa Tanaka desu. Dozo yoroshiku. O-genki desu ka?"

"Hai, genki desu Tanaka-san wa?"

"Hai." Tanaka-san made a motion for them to follow. Duo adjusted the bag to his other hand, letting Hilde follow first.

"I don't believe you," Duo glowered. "Making _me_ look bad."

"That's what I'm paid to do, Dewy."

"Aw, shut up, Hilly. You know not to call me that anymore."

The driver opened the trunk and took their bags. "Maxwell-san…Hilde-san…we go to Nakamura-san now, okay?"

"Okay," Hilde replied, climbing into the back of the car next to Duo.

"This guy better not be the translator," Duo murmured under his breath.

Hilde slapped his knee. "Don't worry about it. Whoever the contact was knew English much better than Tanaka-san."

"I really do hope so." The car was started and Duo immediately got lost in the maze of the city. _I could get around San Francisco blindfolded, but here I can't read the signs, can't understand the people, and don't know my way around._ He saw a little girl clutching her mother with one hand and a doll in the other. _Come on, Duo, you can do this. Do it for Dad if no one else._

*~**~*

After changing into something that made them look more presentable, they signed in at a hotel and went to meet with Nakamura-san, whose office happened to be across the street. It looked more like an apartment complex than a business, but upon entering it had the familiar hustle and bustle of a running company.

Getting people staring at him with every step he took made things a lot less comfortable. _All right, I'm a stranger here; so sue me!_ They didn't seem embarrassed about it, either, when Duo confronted their gaze, a challenge in his violet eyes. He never had an issue with self-confidence, and he absorbed the attention like a sponge does water, but the fact that everyone stopped what they were doing to simultaneous watch him walk through the hall was nerve-wracking. _They just don't expect foreigners since they're at war and all, but I'm here non-politically…simple business…_

Hilde nudged the young man's elbow lightly. "Don't let the attention get to your head, Maxwell, or have problems fitting it through doorways."

"Minna-san, shigoto kaeru ni!" came a commanding voice behind the Americans. The workers got back to their tasks without a moment's hesitation.

Duo spun on a heel, assuming it was Nakamura-san because of the authority over the workers. After all, that's who they were here to see. The speaker was actually a young man, Duo guessed they were around the same age, and had to have been an inch shorter than the braided one. The other's features didn't look as…Japanese…as the other employees. The man's hair was a dark brown, darker than Duo's, with a ruffled appearance and his deep blue eyes reflected amusement over the attention the Americans were warranting. His figure was slim, but by the way his clothes clung to his body, Duo could tell that he was strong and well defined, on top of that.

He approached smoothly and extended a hand. "Mr. Maxwell," he spoke, in flawless English, "my name is Heero Yuy. I will be serving as a translator between yourself and Nakamura-san." They shook hands, but Duo's mind seemed to be registering information slower than it was being received. _Oh thank God he speaks English! Heero Yuy…he can't be much older than myself, if at all, so why isn't he among the army ranks in China?_

"You must be Miss Schbeiker. I'm surprised to see a woman working for a private business, so your talents must be immeasurable."

Hilde looked down at her feet modestly as a blush crept to her cheeks. "You are too kind, Yuy-san. May I call you Heero?" Duo rolled his eyes. Hilde was practically purring from the attractive young man's attention.

"Of course," he flashed her a smile. "Now I believe Nakamura-san is expecting you upstairs. This way, please."

They followed up a winding staircase that went for several flights. Hilde jabbed Duo playfully, nodding her head in Heero's direction and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. The braided man quickly turned away and tried his best to ignore her, but she was still doing it when he looked back. "To pretty to be straight, boss," she mouthed, winking.

Duo Maxwell knew that his sexual interests lied elsewhere a little before high school. He and Hilde had been friends as long as he could remember, and he never saw her as anything else…her or any other girl, for that matter. His brother, Solo, was three years his elder, and had teased Duo for not accepting the advances girls made on him. He had never considered that he could have been gay until he caught himself checking out the guys at school. 

Solo hadn't cared when he told him. He had just shrugged and said Duo was still his kid brother and nothing had changed. His mother had also accepted, saying it must be the will of God; the only real problem was his father, who had seemed to avoid Duo for a little while until he noticed that his younger son wasn't a different person just because he had admitted to liking guys and not girls. Hilde didn't seem to mind at all, and that was another reason why Duo was so quick to hire her; his business accountant was even involved with a man, but he was based in Hawaii for some time.

Duo liked knowing that it didn't matter to the people he loved and saw everyday; he knew that people feared differences, and to some, being different was reason enough to be murdered.

And now, here he was, in Hiroshima, with his secretary telling him to hit on the translator. _I'm bringing Quatre with me on trips, now, and I mean it!_

They had reached the upper level. The stairs led to an open room that was moderately furnished in the Japanese style with a tranquility fountain in the middle and a miniature Zen garden on the low table. A man in his mid-sixties, if Duo had to guess, was kneeling on a mat next to the said table, his eyes closed as if meditating instead of sleeping.

"Nakamura-san," Heero said reverently, "Maxwell-san soshite no hisho, Schbeiker-san, tsuku." The old man mumbled something in Japanese and stood up.

Heero faced the Americans, a somewhat sheepish expression on his features. "Nakamura-san would prefer a _proper_ introduction."

Duo put his business-face back on, keeping his attention away from their beautiful Japanese translator and onto the dealings at hand.

*~**~*

The meeting had gone successfully. The two businesses would have a trade, purchasing Japanese and American merchandise to sell in the different countries for the larger companies. Japan was mostly looking for the newest technology, and when they found a better, more efficient way to run it, the product, in turn, would be sold back to Duo to sell to the companies in California. Mostly the San Francisco companies were interest, but he had received a letter from a Boston company that was interested in business deals. Word was spreading and his father's company was getting out to the country and the world. Duo felt extremely pleased.

They returned to the lobby, Hilde going off in search of the bathroom before retrieving the shoes they had to leave in a cubby by the door.

"That seemed to go well…" Heero started, not seeming sure if he was saying the right thing or not.

"Oh, yes, very well!" Duo gushed, grinning from ear to ear. He was ready to whoop, yell, holler, and dance his joy in the streets, not caring what opinions were thought of the American. That was the best thing that occurred since he inherited the company in the first place, and things were starting to happen!

"Mr. Maxwell…"

"Call me Duo, please. I mean, come on, how old are you?"

"…Nineteen."

_He is the same age as me._ "Really? What month?"

"Rokugat- Sorry. June."

"Damn _it_. You're two months older than me. Anyhoo, we're the same age and all, so you don't have to call me 'Mr. Maxwell'… Sounds kinda weird and it takes me a while to realize that you're talking to me. 'Mr. Maxwell' is my father; just call me Duo."

Heero smirked. "All right, Duo."

Duo chuckled. "See, now I interrupted you, and you forgot what you were going to say before. Me and my big mouth."

"No, it's okay, I have a good memory…" _I bet you're a lot of good things, Heero_, Duo thought unconsciously. He suddenly felt his cheeks turning red and he wanted to sink into the floor. _Giant, walking hormone, that's what you are! A giant, walking hormone!_ "…I was wondering, since your ­_gaijin_ you might have some problems getting around and such, so I was wondering if you'd like to," Heero cleared his throat covertly, "let me bring you out for dinner… As a celebration of your business deal, and because you're not from around here, so it would be best for you to have a guide…" the Japanese man was hurried and acting flustered. "…Hilde can come too," he added as an afterthought.

_Did I just get asked on a date? It sure sounded like it. And he's acting all cute and embarrassed about it. He wouldn't be if it wasn't._ Before Duo could open his mouth to reply, someone else spoke up. "Nah, I'm going to fall asleep any second. I'll get room service or whatever if I get hungry. You two have fun without me. And, Maxwell, you can celebrate, but I'm going to tie you to a plane and ship you home if you have a hangover tomorrow." She grabbed her shoes, nodding a goodbye, and left. _Traitor._

"I-I guess… No, what am I saying? I'd love to. I didn't get to see much of the city and I'd probably get lost, anyways. That and I'm starving, but I'll warn you, there is no way in _hell_ I'm going to eat raw fish. I don't like my meat squirming on the way down."

Heero smiled, relieved. "Good. It'll take a moment here. You can go to your room and get changed. I'll be by in an hour."

"All right…I'll see you then, I guess," Duo pulled on his shoes and ran across the street, nearly getting hit by half a dozen cars in the process. _You know what? I think you have a date tonight, but he doesn't know you're room number…shit… I'll have to wait in the lobby. It's not like I'm actually interested or anything; there was just no way I could turn down a free meal._ Duo pressed the elevator button repeatedly before one opened up. _Hey, Maxwell, if this is just an excuse for free food, why can't you stop thinking about him?_

Prussian blue eyes and dark, messy hair haunted Duo into his room.

*~**~*

Duo fidgeted nervously, twirling the end of his braid in his fingers. They had gone by various restaurants proclaiming their name in hiragana with bright lights. _So…are we supposed to hold hands or something? Or isn't an open display of affection frowned down upon in Japan? Damn it, I'm so confused._ He and Heero had met in the lobby, Duo surprised that the Japanese casual clothes were similar to some American styles among the middle class. Duo had been pleased to find out that his assumptions on Heero's build were correct. _So far it's a 110% in the looks department, so the physical attraction is there. Just waiting on emotional and intellectual, now._

Heero finally seemed to make up his mind, a hostess waiting for them eagerly. "Konnichi wa! Dono kurai?"

"Futari onegai shimasu. Eigo no menyu ga arimasu ka?"

"Hai. Chotto matte."

They were seated at a table in the back near a gigantic fish tank with various sized and colored goldfish. The hostess came back, setting a teapot on the table and handing out the menus. "Watashi kaeru."

Duo blinked at the menu. "It's in English."

Heero looked up over his menu. "Good to know you can distinguish that," he said, a smile playing over his features.

"Shut up. You know what I meant. I don't know what to get…there's so much here that I've never heard of before." He looked at Heero, batting violet eyes. "What are you getting?"

"Tenpura udon with gyu-don."

Duo leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. "I should have gone to China. I'd know what to eat, there, at least. Maybe you should order for me. What kind of tea is this?"

Heero shrugged. "Either green or oolong. What color is it?"

"I don't know…black, maybe."

"Oolong, then."

The braided American took a sip, swishing it around his tongue before swallowing. "Not bad. Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Where'd you learn English?"

The Japanese man with the deep blue eyes blinked, carefully setting the menu down and trying to form an answer. "I used to live in the States."

"Really? How long ago was that?"

"Fourteen years."

Duo thought for a moment. "So shouldn't you only have the English skills of a five-year-old?"

Heero shook his head. "My…guardian could only speak English and a little Norwegian, so I kept learning it through him."

"Then why did you move to Japan in the first place?"

"He wanted me to learn Japanese," Heero shrugged. "Had no reason to stay in America, as well."

Duo put the tea back down. Every time he got a question answered, five more seemed to materialize. "If you were raised by a guardian since you were five, what happened to your parents?"

"Anata-tachi no chumon onegai," a waiter interrupted before Heero could start whatever his reply was.

"Hayashi-raisu, tenpura udon, gyoza, soshite gyu-don onegai. Sake mo."

"Arigato."

"My childhood is the type of subject matter that is more appropriate for the fifth date than the first," Heero said quietly, partly leaning towards Duo across the table.

"Ah, so this _is_ a date," amethystine eyes shining with something close to amusement.

"It is if you want it to be," the Japanese man returned to his normal tone of voice.

The American smiled softly, brushing uneven bangs out of his eyes. "Yeah, I do." They were silent for a moment. "Has anyone made it to that fifth date?" Heero shook his head. "Really?" He nodded. "Well, now I have something to try for, don't I?"

Heero smiled, and Duo felt relieved. Whatever tension had been in the air before had dissipated, and now it was the aura of a date, filled with questions, curiosity, and the nervous tension replaced with sexual.

The food arrived, as well as the sake, and things went smoothly for the rest of the evening. The meal was good. Duo seemed to have gotten some sort of meat and vegetables over rice with fried dumplings. Heero had to teach Duo on the art of eating with chopsticks, however, which the impatient American was getting frustrated over. He liked the stab or shovel it, put it in your mouth, chew, and swallow method. The chopsticks were making things much more complicated.

"Aargh! This isn't fair! Eating is supposed to be a necessity, not a form of art!"

Duo never asked what the sake was, but it seemed to be an acquired taste. It was strange at first, but quickly grew on you the more you had. Needless to say it disappeared faster than the tea, and when Duo's mind got fuzzy and his vision foggy, the last thing he could remember was Heero rushing forwards to catch him before seeing black.

*~**~*

            Tsuzukeru


	3. Part Two

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, lime, sap/fluff

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Um…lime ahead. Or is it a lemon? Eh, I'll call it a lime. -_-;; First one I ever wrote, so don't be mad. It was weird. I just started writing it and it started to come out on it's own. That or I'm just a natural with these things and I never even knew it. That's a scary thought. Anyhoo, on with the fic!

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Two

April 8, 1941 

Duo Maxwell slowly cracked his eyes open, quickly screwing them shut again with the onslaught of sunlight pouring in the windows. He rubbed at the violet orbs, suddenly becoming aware of a dull, throbbing pain beating against his brain. He groaned aloud, only to cause more pain from the sound. _Looks like I got hammered last night. God, it even hurts to think. Where the hell am I, anyway?_

He forced himself to cope with the pain, sitting up and looking around. He definitely was not in the hotel. Hilde would have attacked him by now asking how dinner went. Duo narrowed his eyes. _What did happen last night? I remember falling forward, but can't recall anything afterwards. Shit…_

"You're awake. How do you feel?"

Duo scowled. "Like there's a gigantic nutcracker trying to break my brain open. What the hell was that stuff?"

"Sake…rice wine. I thought you knew that."

"Looks like I didn't, doesn't it?"

Heero chuckled quietly. "It's served in small cups for a reason."

The American flopped back down on the futon. "So what happened after I passed out?"

"I paid the bill and brought you here. You were asleep until now," Heero sat besides Duo on the mattress. "That was twelve hours ago."

Duo tried to remember the time but couldn't. His brain was still in Pacific Standard Time, so he was far behind. "What time _is_ it?"

"A little past ten."

His eyes spread wide and Duo jolted forward, but his stomach wasn't prepared for the motion and a strong wave of nausea washed over him. He had to close his eyes and wait for the storm to pass. Strong hands gripped his shoulders, rubbing them. "Feel better?"

Duo nodded quickly, but felt sick again. He got up and flew through a closed door, relieved to find the bathroom, and emptied the contents of his stomach into the commode. He flushed, wiping his mouth on a napkin, and came back into the bedroom. "I do now. Can I have some water?" Heero nodded and went to get it.

Duo leaned against a wall, clutching his sides and daring his stomach to make him throw up again. He felt much better, though. The headache seemed to be going away, and the majority of the alcohol had been emptied of his system. Heero returned with the water. He swished it around in his mouth and spit it out into the sink before actually taking a sip. Duo was relieved when the puke flavor left his mouth. He had to wait for a moment until the water settled. _Eating something would most definitely be out of the question._

"I'd ask if your hungry, but I know you'll say no." The braided young man smiled gratefully. Heero was so nice to him. If the past night's events had happened in San Francisco, Duo probably would've been violated in an alley and left there until he woke up. Not that _all_ American guys were like that, but he liked Heero.

_Since when did you come up to that decision? Oh, about five seconds ago. You think he'd let me kiss him? Why are all the good guys hiding in Japan?_ Duo shook away his thoughts. "I should probably get back to the hotel," he sighed. "Hilde is going to throw a fit. She's probably waiting to interrogate me right now."

"All right."

They walked back to the hotel in relative silence. Duo was trying to get a sense of direction or at least establish landmarks so he could find his way somewhere if he got lost. And he was having an on-going debate with his conscience on the possible results if he kissed Heero.

The silence was palpable standing in front of his room, 241. At least the numbers were written in Arabic numerals as well as the Japanese ones. Kept Duo from getting lost, at least. He'd need to stick a bright orange sign on the door otherwise. He turned back around, leaning against the closed door and facing Heero.

"I honestly didn't think I'd have a date on a business trip. I had fun…well…except for the throwing up part, but I probably would've gotten drunk last night whether I had a date or not," Duo felt awkward and flustered again.

"How long are you staying?" Heero asked. Duo couldn't pull his gaze away from the deep blue eyes. It felt like he was drowning in them.

"Leaving the tenth. We didn't plan for things to get wrapped up so easily."

"Oh." The Japanese man sounded sad or disappointed; Duo couldn't quite tell which it was. "I'd like to keep seeing you."

"Me too," Duo allowed a small smile. Heero mirrored his smile, leaning forward tentatively to give Duo the chance to say no, and softly kissed him on the lips. Duo threw his arms around the other's shoulders, eagerly deepening it. They plundered each other's mouths like a starving man finding food.

They were both leaning heavily on the door, now. Heero broke momentarily. "Tomorrow?" he panted; Duo nodded in agreement, no more words needed, and they wrapped up in each other once more.

And then Hilde opened the door.

*~**~*

With all their weight against the door and Hilde having opened it inwards, they fell into the room as a tumble of limbs. Hilde had found the highly hysterical, laughing heavily at Duo and Heero's expense. They had said hurried, embarrassed goodbyes and Duo locked himself in his room with Hilde standing outside pounding on the door.

"Duo! Open up! Come on, _please_? I'll be nice, I promise! Duo, you need to keep in mind _who_ has the final paperwork for the business dealings! Duo, open the _damn_ door!"

Duo unlocked the door for Hilde to let herself in. It was futile to avoid her, anyway. She could resort in knocking the door down, if desperate. And from the sound of it, she was getting to that point, so he unlocked the door.

Hilde let herself in, bouncing in and slamming the door behind her. Duo's violet eyes shone with resentment, and the woman burst out laughing again.

"I think I've dealt with enough shit from you, Hilde Schbeiker!" Duo snarled. She stopped laughing. Duo only used full names when he was royally pissed off, and he was. "You're job description does _not_ carry over into my personal life!"

"You're right, it doesn't, but you haven't _had_ a personal life since your father died, and that was two years ago, Duo! You've been working yourself bone-weary ever since." They were silent for a moment. "So…it went well? If you don't tell me anything, I'm going to assume it did because you, apparently, had a sleepover, and we all know what _that_ means."

"I got drunk and passed out in the middle of a restaurant, Hilde; we didn't sleep with each other… Well, maybe we did, I'm not sure, but we didn't have sex." The corners of Duo's mouth quirked upwards at the idea of having sex with Heero. "Bet he's one hell of a good fuck, though. Probably gives a good one, too."

The implications didn't bother Hilde. She was used to it by now. "So you slept with him but nothing happened? _And_ you didn't hold your alcohol? You're getting old!"

"Shut up, Hild'. There's always tomorrow, you know."

"Yeah, I heard," she leaned on her elbows against the table. "Any plans?"

Duo shrugged. "I like him, Hilde. A lot. If nothing else is expected to come out of this, I at least want neither of us to be able to walk correctly afterwards."

The woman ran her fingers through her short hair. "You're a sick one, boss. I bet you don't talk to Solo about this sort of stuff."

The braided American smiled devilishly. "Solo, no; Quatre, yes." Duo went over to his luggage and started fishing through his clothes. "Can you help me find something to wear for tomorrow?"

"Sure thing."

*~**~*

April 9, 1941 

Duo felt like there were butterflies the size of aircraft carriers in his stomach. He was nervous! They had managed to dig up a pair of black leather pants that clung to Duo like a second skin with a zip-up, red T-shirt, and a jacket that matched the pants. He hadn't finished brushing his hair, so it was cascading down his body freely as he checked himself in the mirror. _Damn, I look good!_ He picked the brush back up a ran it through his hair, struggling with the tangles.

A knock was heard at the door. _Ack! What the hell does she want now?_ "It's open!"

The door clicked open and shut and soft footsteps were heard padding in. _Doesn't Hilde usually come bounding in?_ Duo turned and looked at the entryway. "H-Heero! You're early!" he exclaimed, dropping the hairbrush and fumbling to catch it again.

"You look good…_real_ good."

"You too," Duo replied, absorbing inch after tantalizing inch of Heero's body. He was wearing a simple green tank top with a pair of blue denim pants, but it only accentuated his strength. His thoughts rapidly became more perverted as his eyes traveled down the Japanese man's body, and suddenly the air in the room seemed constricting.

Duo didn't notice when Heero approached him, grabbing the brush and smoothing the chestnut strands. Duo was nearly purring. He had never let any of his past boyfriends brush his hair or even let them see it out of the confining braid, but with Heero, the American didn't seem to mind. Heero divided his hair in three sections, braiding it, and using an elastic that had been wrapped around the handle of the brush. He gently grabbed Duo's face by the chin, turning his head so they were facing each other, and their mouths met with as much passion as they had the day prior.

They pulled away for air, and Duo was surprised to see unadulterated desire in Heero's Prussian blue gaze. "Duo…I need…"

"Shh, I know." The American gave a sly smile. "Is brushing my hair your idea of foreplay?" Heero silenced him with a kiss, starting at his mouth and moving down the writhing body.

Duo moaned as he felt cool hands on his heated flesh, Heero removing his clothes without breaking contact between his mouth and Duo's body. Heero succeeded in peeling off the different layers, so Duo lay naked on the bed, his swollen sex begging for attention. Heero's hands ghosted downwards, passing over Duo's erection to the inside of his thighs.

"Hee~ro!" Duo yelled, thrusting his hips towards the Japanese man's hand. Duo's violet eyes darkened with lust and pleasure as Heero gently flicked his thumb over the tip, stroking the shaft gently with increasing speed and pressure.

The American felt like he was drowning in a sea of pleasure. Hilde was right about his personal life, and it _had_ been sometime since someone had touched him in such ways, but the sensations Heero drove through him seemed to be the epitome of bliss.

Duo gasped when Heero took him in the mouth, the warm, velvety recesses bringing such a feeling that Duo thought he would pass out. It wasn't long before he came, screaming Heero's name as he emptied his load into the Japanese man's mouth. Duo collapsed, sweaty, on the sheets, tired but not spent. Heero crawled up and kissed his mouth frantically; Duo tasting himself on Heero's tongue, which only renewed his sexual energy. He pressed a hand against Heero's chest, pushing him back and rolling so they switched positions.

"Heero, you are _way_ over-dressed," he purred, relieving Heero of his tank top and pants. He lightly brushed his hand over the other's cloth-covered erection, causing Heero to moan. Duo grinned as he removed the only fabric left on his body.

Heero _was_ well built, and seeing his naked, bronze skin in this state of arousal was almost too much for Duo. "You're beautiful, Heero," he said, tracing his tongue over the sensitive bits of flesh on Heero's arms, chest, stomach, and thighs. The Japanese man's moans and pleads causing Duo to get aroused again. He breathed over the tip of Heero's hard penis causing Heero to thrust towards his mouth, but Duo pulled his head back to Heero's and they kissed fervently.

Heero growled in the back of his throat and regained dominance, running on hand down Duo's body and gently probing his entrance while the other hand groped around blindly. He found what he was looking for in his pants' pocket.

Duo raised an eyebrow at the lube. "My, aren't we prepared." Heero covered the other's mouth with his own, coating his erection with the lubricant and being careful not to hurt Duo. "Heero, just do it already!" he pleaded, and Heero slammed to the hilt in response, causing the braided man to moan at their union.

Heero rocked rhythmically and Duo met each thrust with one of his own. Blinding white pleasure came in waves, and Duo felt Heero's release inside of him, soon followed by Duo's own. They collapsed onto the futon, panting, hot, and sweaty. Heero kissed up Duo's jaw line and nuzzled against his neck, content in the afterglow.

"Heero?"

"Hn?"

"Come home with me, please?"

Heero propped himself up on his elbows, sapphire meeting amethyst. "Why?"

"I-I want you to! I don't think a relationship _this_ long distance could work out, and I need you. No, that's a lie. Heero…I love you." Duo held his breath and waited for Heero's wrath. _Please, God, if this is going to end, at least leave it on good terms…_

But Heero was smiling. "All right. I will."

Duo blinked. "Really?" Heero nodded. "Wow. Hey, Heero? Can we, um, stay here all day instead of go out? I mean, if you want to go out, we can, but I can think of…other things to be occupied with here…" Heero's smile widened, understanding Duo's implications.

"Of course. Ai shiteru, Duo." He laughed at the other's questioning glance. "That's Japanese for _I love you_, but it's deeper than that." Heero struggled to find a better explanation. "It's _I love you_, but it's also _I'm completely devoted to you_, koi. _That_ means love or sweetheart."

Duo smiled, radiating pure happiness. "I like the sound of that." He brushed his lips over Heero's. "As much as I love pillow talk, I can think of better things to be doing with that luscious mouth of yours."

*~**~*

April 10, 1941 

It had been a stressful morning, but everything turned out all right. They had to fly coach, now, but it didn't matter. Heero was coming home with him and the business deal had been successful. Duo felt like he was walking on air.

Hilde had been ecstatic for the both of them. Duo could only think on how he couldn't wait for Heero to meet everyone at him. Of course he was going to show off his attractive lover to his friends and family!

They were currently waiting for the plane to take off. "Okay, so my business is run in my house…sort of. The bottom floor is where all the official meetings and such go on and where Hilde runs things; the offices are on the middle floor; and I live on the top floor. It's easier, that way, so Hilde is _technically_ correct when she says I live at work. Quatre's my accountant; he's a really great guy; his boyfriend is stationed in Hawaii right now, so if he acts a little…lonely, don't take it personally. Solo's my brother. He's at college right now getting a degree, but he comes home to visit Mom every few weeks. He's twenty-two and likes to embarrass me in front of people. Mom will insist to have us over for dinner. She likes to know how the business is going and such. I don't think she'll make you call her Mrs. Maxwell. Maybe just Helen, but she might make you call her Mom. If she does, ignore her and call her Helen, anyway. Again, it's nothing personal. She already has Hilde calling her Mom. Well, we've known Hilde long enough, but she's kinda the Maxwell daughter that never existed." Duo was chewing Heero's ear off with nervous energy, but he couldn't help it. He was nervous! "Um, any questions?"

Heero leaned over and kissed Duo chastely. "Stop worrying, koi. You'll give yourself an ulcer and _then_ you'll really have something to worry about."

Hilde looked away from the window. "Just ignore him. He talks like that all the time; you learn to tone it out after awhile." She perked up. "So Solo's coming over? Could you invite me to dinner, too?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "Hilde's taken with my brother," he winked. "She was so devastated when I told her I'm gay that she resorted to Solo."

Hilde sharply elbowed Duo just as the plane started to move, and Duo yipped more from the take off than his friend. He closed his eyes sharply and tried to school his breathing.

"Duo?" Heero said, clearly worried. "What's wrong?"

"He doesn't like planes," Hilde supplied. "Technically, he doesn't like take off and landing. You get used to it."

"According to you I'm going to get used to a lot of things."

"Is it over?"

"Yes, koi. Now take your hands off your eyes; we're in the air."

Duo removed his hands and leaned into his lover, sighing contently. "I'm taking a nap; it's a long flight. 'Night." He felt fingers brushing his hair out of his eyes before falling asleep.

*~**~*

"Come on, boys, we have to head home before your mother starts worrying," Kline Maxwell hurried his sons back to the car. 

_Solo Maxwell, twenty at the time and in his junior year of college, lobbed a snowball in his younger brother's direction. Duo, seventeen, playfully shoved his older brother so that the slightly taller, blond boy fell backwards into a snow bank._

_They had gone on one of their winter ski trips, this one only for the day since Solo had to return to San Jose University the next day, but it was fun nevertheless. Solo had a grand time telling all the girls he was a college student, and even Duo got involved with a little harmless flirting… Well, one guy started hitting on him thinking he was a girl and got pissed off rather quickly when he figured out he was actually flirting with a guy who happened to be flirting back. Solo had beat the shit out of him, and everyone left them alone afterwards. _

_Kline was just happy to be spending time with his kids away from home. Solo was too busy with college to visit frequently and Duo acted more himself when his brother was around; not to mention the mountains were just a picturesque location to spend the day in, especially with the snow coating everything like powdered sugar._

_But all good things had to come to an end._

_"Hey, Dad, can I drive home?" Duo asked, a hopeful expression on his face._

_Solo looked more horrified. "No way! The way he drives he'll get us all killed! He's the devil when he gets behind the wheel, Dad!"_

_"Enough, Solo," Kline said, "you weren't any better. You still aren't, so you have no right to judge. Duo may like to drive a little recklessly, but at least he's responsible about it." Solo's fair features turned red as he recalled the time he totaled his father's car and hid it, saying it got stolen._

_Duo stuck his tongue out at Solo in victory. Boys will be boys. Solo stuck out his own in response, emerald eyes gleaming defiantly. The younger caught the keys as they were tossed to him, throwing equipment in the back of the jeep and jumping behind the wheel. Solo sat behind him with their father getting shotgun. He started the car and they were on their way home._

_The roads were icy and the snow made visibility difficult on the windy roads in undeveloped California, so Duo was forced to drive slow, keeping constant vigil for anything potentially dangerous. He was suddenly wishing he didn't ask to drive home. The snow was only getting thicker._

_Solo grabbed his shoulder from behind him. "Duo, look out for the deer!"_

_Duo hadn't seen it. It was standing in the middle of the road, just staring at the headlights. Duo slammed on the brakes, but the tires hit an icy patch at the same time, sending the jeep into a spin. It didn't stop until it went off the road and broadsided a large redwood that bore into the car two feet on the front passenger side, sending splinters ricocheting in all directions._

*~**~*

            Tsuzukeru


	4. Part Three

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Time zone confusion! What fun! Um, see, it's still the 10th because we switch from Japan time to California time. The International Dateline makes things lovely like that, neh?

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Three

April 10, 1941 

Duo jolted awake from the nightmare, clutching the armrests at his sides and digging his short fingernails into the hard surface. _Calm down…easy… Just a nightmare…not real…_ He whimpered lightly, when he really wanted to scream. _But it was real!_ He closed his eyes. _Dad…would you ever forgive me?_

He flagged down a stewardess and asked for a glass of water, downing it the second it arrived. His breathing became less ragged and he felt himself relaxing.

The plane jolted up and then back down, hitting thick clouds, causing Duo to jump out of his seat and grab at the easiest things in his reach…which happened to be the back of the seat in front of him and Heero's right knee.

Heero cracked open Prussian blue eyes and looked over at his American lover. "Duo, what is it?"

"Eh…nothing," he quickly forced on a smile. "Just a little turbulence, that's all. Nothing that'll kill me." Duo winced inwardly at his attempted joke.

"I hope so," Heero leaned over and planted a chaste kiss on the tip of Duo's nose. He then proceeded to stretch unused muscles and joints. "The sooner we get off this damn plane the better."

"I agree," Duo tried to lean over Hilde to see out the window, but all he could see was the deep blue-green Pacific Ocean and the wing of the plane. "Great view," he snorted as an island came into view. "Alcatraz…we're practically there." The braided man yawned dramatically and stretched languorously in his seat. _Time for a little payback._ He motioned for Heero to stay quiet as he leaned towards Hilde. "Hilly, we're home!" he half-shouted, proceeding to tickle the young woman awake.

*~**~*

The airport was crowded as all hell. The main populace seemed to be men in business suits, but crying women and screaming children made the place a whole lot louder. They almost drowned out the sounds of aircraft. Almost.

Hilde squealed in delight and all but tackled a tall, fair man. He was in his early-twenties, stood a smidge taller than Duo at six-foot two, wheat blond hair kept short, and held an intelligent yet prankish light in his emerald eyes, returning the enthusiastic embrace. "Hilde Schbeiker…you haven't found anything better to do with your time besides playing secretary for my dear little brother?"

The young woman smiled flirtatiously. "It's only temporary until I can be _your_ personal assistant, Solo Maxwell."

Duo let out an abrupt laugh. "We won't get into the details on what Hilde would like to assist you _with_."

"Duo," Solo said, quirking an eyebrow, "you're being rude. I haven't been introduced to your…friend." Uncertainty was evident in the elder Maxwell brother's voice as he said the last word.

A gigantic grin spread across Duo's face. "Solo, this Heero Yuy, my beloved. Heero, this is Solo, my brother." Duo bit his lip as the two mentally appraised each other as they shook hands.

"You're Japanese?"

"Yes."

"How is it that you weren't drafted for the war?"

Heero smiled. "If you would like to discuss the politics of war, sometime, I would be much interested, but now isn't the time."

Solo returned the gesture, and Duo rolled his eyes as Hilde practically melted into the floor. She already had her arm firmly intertwined with his. Solo seemed to be going along with it more out of politeness than any reciprocating emotions. "Politics isn't my field anymore, but that would be interesting."

"Solo's studying for his doctorate!" the dark-haired young woman gushed.

Duo snorted. "Hilde, he's going after a doctorate in psychiatry."

"So? Doctor Solo Maxwell has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Then I could be Missus Doctor Solo Maxwell," Hilde was over exaggerating the swoon, but it made Solo turn a comical shade of red.

Amethyst eyes lit up mischievously. "Look on the bright side, Solo: When you _do_ get your doctorate you'll be able to prescribe Hilde with shock therapy sessions."

"Ha ha, very funny, Duo. Can we leave now?"

No one objected so they picked up their luggage and met Solo outside. He slid behind the wheel, Hilde grabbing the seat next to him, with Duo and Heero sliding into the backseat.

*~**~*

The house was two stories tall, and looked much like it's neighbors, with carefully kept gardens and even a white picket fence. Off-white paint was bordered in a light blue, and the house Duo and Solo had grown up in seemed to fit the stereotype of the perfect American home. _All we need is for Mom to have a pie cooling on a windowsill…_

Duo looked over at Heero; it was probably overwhelming for his Japanese lover to have to absorb so much new information at once, but he appeared to be handling it all right. The braided young man leaned over and wrapped an arm around Heero's waist, receiving a similar gesture in return. "Feeling okay?"

Heero nodded and smiled a little. "I'm starting to feel like a zoo attraction."

Duo scrunched up his nose, thinking back to the morning they had spent in his hotel room. "I may love animals, but not _that_ much!" he laughed. He looked at the doorway of his old home and waved enthusiastically when he saw his mother standing with the door open. "Hey, Mom…what's for dinner?"

Helen Maxwell laughed. "Duo, I swear, you're nothing more than a walking stomach with a braid." She was an average-sized woman in her mid-forties, and it was easy to tell she was the mother of her two boys. For the most part, her features were the same as Solo's with fair features and blonde hair, lightening with age, but her eyes were a shining amethyst like Duo's. "Hilde, he's not working you too hard, right, dear?"

Hilde gave the older woman a hug. "At this rate, _I'll_ be in charge," she grinned, winking merrily.

Mrs. Maxwell laughed and ushered everyone in the house. "This is _wonderful_. It's almost like old times… Solo not at school, Hilde visiting, and Duo bringing dates home for dinner."

Duo cleared his throat when he noticed Heero turning pink. "Mom, this is Heero, my…boyfriend."

She smiled and nodded her head politely. "Heero…a French name?"

"Japanese," he replied, looking over at Duo who seemed to be fidgeting nervously.

"Well, Heero, you can call me Helen." She titled her head. "You don't look Japanese. You must know that Duo just got back from a business dealing in Japan…"

"Hey, uh, Mom?" Duo could see Hilde snickering with Solo at the kitchen table. "He knows; that's where we met." It was strangely uncomfortable for a moment, and Duo tightened his grip around his lover as he waited for some reaction to the news of their fast relationship.

"So," Hilde said after a minute or so, "what's for dinner?"

*~**~*

Dinner went extremely well. It wasn't anything fancy – chicken, potatoes, and carrots roasted together – but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Heero fit right in; he seemed happier to sit back and listen to everyone but _did_ get into that political conversation which eventually let to discussing the wars in Asia and Europe. Turns out that Heero didn't have to fight because he wasn't really a Japanese citizen; he was legally American. The Japanese military couldn't recruit a foreigner if he didn't volunteer.

Helen Maxwell wanted to get caught up in how the business was going, so Hilde and Duo sat in the kitchen and got her up-to-date. Heero and Solo and gone in another room, Duo assumed, to continue their discussion.

"That's magnificent! God is smiling on you, Duo; if only your father could see what a successful business man you're becoming."

Hilde gave an arrogant grin. "Irresponsible with money and paperwork, but successful."

Duo narrowed his eyes at the young woman briefly. "I don't _need_ to be responsible with the paperwork and money…that's what you and Quatre are paid to do."

Mrs. Maxwell smiled. "At least Duo knows that he needs people to help him and isn't afraid to reach out for it. You're profiting better because of that." She stood up slowly. "Duo, I have something to give you. Hilde, we'll have to excuse you for a moment."

"Sure."

Duo followed his mother upstairs to the master bedroom. He felt a pang of guilt and sorrow at the photographs on the walls and tables; pictures of the four of them throughout the years at various times of their lives. His eyes settled on a picture of himself, Solo, and their father in a lodge with a spectacular view of the mountains in the background. _God, that picture was from the morning right before he was killed…_

"I was digging through your father's things and I found this," Helen held out a velvet envelope to her youngest son. "You should have it."

Duo slowly opened the envelope, wondering at what it could possibly have been. He felt something cold and pulled it out, breath hitching in his throat when he recognized the object. A simple gold cross hung on a matching chain. Some of the shine had been worn out from constant wear and the edges were smoother from being rubbed, but it was otherwise flawless. _It's Dad's cross…he rarely took it off… It's Dad's cross… Why wasn't he buried wearing it?_

He remembered, suddenly. Kline Maxwell had taken it off and left it at home for that weekend. He didn't want to lose it on the mountain, so it got left home.

Helen noticed her son's lack of speech and rubbed his back. "You've been busy for the past few days; go home and rest, Duo. You deserve it." She gently pulled his face to hers and kissed Duo's forehead before returning downstairs to Hilde.

Duo looked back down. The cross was sitting in the middle of his open hand with the chain draped over his fingers. _Dad's cross…Dad's cross…Dad's cross…_ He almost put it back in the envelope. He almost threw it away, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead Duo mechanically opened the clasp and put it around his neck, tucking the necklace under his shirt. He took a deep breath. _Home…sleep…_

He was about to start down the stairs when he heard voices down the hall. Duo looked at his and Solo's old room, listening for a moment. People were in there; it must be Heero and Solo. He carefully approached the door and was about to open it when their actual conversation reached his ears.

"…and ever since the accident, Duo's been blaming himself for our father's death. It's getting worse, if anything."

"He doesn't like riding in cars, much; planes, too, for that matter."

"Duo's an amaxophobic…he doesn't like riding in or being in vehicles. Cars are understandable, but I don't know why it would carry over into airplanes. Wonder if he also has a problem with boats, trains, and bikes."

"Is Duo the reason you switched majors?"

"Hm? Yeah…partially, at least. In the two years since the accident, Duo's been wrapping himself up in Dad's business. He dropped out of school and everything. We were very surprised to see you; maybe he is getting better, after all…"

Duo was astounded. _Solo has no right to tell all that to Heero! I have every right to be guilty because it was my fault; now Solo's making it sound like I have a mental health problem. This conversation ends now._ He shoved the door open and glared darkly at the two men in his old room. "Heero, we're going home now; I'm tired."

"Duo? What's wrong, little brother, you look upset…"

The braided American turned his anger to his brother. "Upset? Upset! Why would _I_ look upset to _you_, Mr. Psychiatrist-In-Training? Everything's just super!" Duo saw Heero wince from the sarcasm and malice oozing out of his last sentence.

"Duo, if you just admit that you have a problem…"

That was the last straw. "I _don't_ have a _problem_, Solo, and I fucking _don't_ appreciate you telling the people I love that I _do_!" Duo's furious violet eyes met Heero's deep blue ones. They were so full of love and concern that Duo felt sick all of a sudden. He turned around and saw Hilde and his mother in the hallway, and all of a sudden he felt tears welling up in his eyes. _Aw, shit, come on, Duo… Don't be such a girl; boy's don't cry._ He clenched his jaw and left, briefly catching Hilde saying goodnight and that she'd catch a cab home.

There were footsteps behind him. "Duo? _Duo!_ Duo, please stop!" It was Heero. Duo snorted as his introductory motto popped in mind. _I run; I hide; but I never tell a lie. Well, it looks like I'm running._ He started off sprinting, thankful for once that his long legs were carrying him further faster than otherwise possible. When he breathing became harsh, ragged gasps he still didn't stop; cars honked and people yelled at him to get out of the way, but Duo kept running. And running, and running, and running, and running.

Then he stopped. _Heero doesn't know where I live… Damn, I hope he isn't lost._ Duo waited for a few minutes and almost started retracing his steps back when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Duo…"

The American looked up at the sky, searching for the stars, but he couldn't see them. A raindrop splashed him in the eye, instead, and a steady rain began. The drops were huge and splashed onto the streets more than fell.

"Heero…Solo just thinks he's a know-it-all. He's not right, you know that. He thinks it's wrong for me to believe in the truth; Heero, I _never_ lie!" Duo blinked. _Heero was behind me… How?…_ "And how to you get behind me?"

"Duo…" _Jesus, the guy is barely winded! He must be stronger than I thought._ "My parents were killed when I was three-years-old. Odin Lowe, my guardian, told me it was a hate crime because they were Japanese; I was spared because they thought I wouldn't be able to survive on my own. I lived on the streets of San Francisco until I was five when Odin found me and brought me to Japan." He closed his eyes. "I remember the city better than I thought I would."[1] Heero reopened them, and Duo let the tears fall. _This is his story…this isn't really our fifth date, but he thinks it's fair. Solo blabbed about my past, so now he's going to tell me about his. Damn it._ "I hadn't known the real reason for my parents' deaths until Odin told me, and I thought somehow it was my fault. I had no substantial memories of my parents, and I was three at the time they died, but four years later, when I found out the truth, I thought there was something I could have done to protect them, someway I could have helped.

"Odin thought Japan would be safer for me, but I couldn't stand it. You see, Duo, my father was Japanese, but my mother wasn't, and they were killed because my father married outside his ethnicity." Heero closed the gap between them so he was able to whisper and still be heard. Duo was barely conscious of the rain soaking their clothes and hair. "We're only human, Duo. We can't predict consequences or stop time to rewind it and try again. You have to recognize that, or there will be an unnecessary weight on your shoulders for the rest of your life."

Unable to think of anything to say, Duo pressed forward into Heero's mouth and delved it with his own. The kiss was slow, almost as if they were in mourning. They walked back to Duo's house in each other's arms and made slow, deliberate love before they fell asleep.

That night, he had no nightmares.

*~**~*

April 11, 1941 

Sunlight streaming through the windows, curtains having been left open, forced Duo awake. He moaned sleepily and grabbed for the watch[2] on the end table next to his head. _Eight at night…what the hell? Oh, I never adjusted it back to Pacific Standard._ He did a little math in his head. _It's ten o'clock. I should have been up two hours ago in order to be ready by nine. Quatre won't be happy._

Duo tried to get up, but something was inhibiting his movement. He looked down at his right arm and smiled; his arm was under the small of Heero's back. Duo rolled over and planted a light kiss on the Japanese man's mouth. "Wake up, love. You can't laze around in bed all day." _As much as I'd love to_, he added mentally.

Heero hazily blinked and sat up on his elbows. "Why's that? You can't imagine a second without me?"

"No," Duo mocked scowled. "You're lying on my hair, and I can't get up because of it." Heero sat up enough for Duo to get up and laid back down on the bed. "You're, uh, going to have to borrow some of my clothes; our bags are still in Solo's car." He put on a pair of pants and grabbed his brush off the dresser and started to struggle with the tangled locks. _Should've done this before I fell asleep…_

"Can I help?" Heero was standing behind his braided lover and had managed to find his pants.

"Uh…sure…" Duo dug around through his things before he found another brush. "You do one half, I'll do the other, and we can meet in the middle." Splitting up the mass of hair, they managed to cut an extensive job into seven minutes, and Duo rapidly braided it with skilled ease.

The closet was a disarray. Duo had packed all of the clothes he liked, but managed to find khakis, a dark green shirt, and a white tie. He briefly ran his fingers through his bangs to try and make it look less like he just woke up, but it was hopeless, as always, so he grabbed his shoes. "If you need anything, I'm not leaving the house. Hilde will be on the bottom floor if I am busy. Feel free to eat anything you want, but I don't think the milk will be…healthy for consumption." Heero nodded and wrapped his arms around the slightly taller man, kissing him slowly and deeply.

When they broke, Duo felt bad for having to go and work, leaving Heero alone with nothing to do for several hours. He nodded over back to the dresser. "You can take my keys and go out. There's a car in the garage if you need it."

Heero smiled. "I'm starting to feel like a housewife. Would you like me to pick up milk and bread, koi?"

Duo laughed in reply. "Only if you want to."

The other shook his head, causing chocolate locks to fall in front of his eyes. "I'll pick up our things and find a job."

They exchanged one last kiss before Duo headed downstairs. "Don't forget the milk and bread!"

*~**~*

"Good morning, Duo. Feeling better?" Hilde met him at his desk.

"Yeah, actually, I do, but I still have a bone to pick with Solo next time I see him."

"You always were the over-sensitive one, Dewy. And I think you should give Solo a break; he already dealt with your mother. I swear, the youngest child is _always_ the coddled one…"

Duo snorted. "This coming from an only child. Where's Quatre?"

"I told him to come at eleven. I knew you'd be tired and Trowa's back on leave, so," she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, "you can imagine that they were using the extra time for alternative activities."

The braided man rolled his eyes. "Well you could have told me this. Then _I_ could be involved in 'alternative activities' right now instead of down here talking to you!"

Hilde tossed the paperwork from the past couple of days onto his desk. "Well, you have to get cranking. We have work to do."

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku

[1] Emily has never been to San Francisco…especially in the 1940s. She's been to San Diego, but not San Francisco. I know Boston has names for different parts of the city, but I don't know if that's true about SF, but Duo's kinda in the suburbia outskirts… Heero means the same…do you really think a toddler could survive in the big city!?

[2] Didn't have wristwatches back then, did they? Damn. Oh well. It has to be a pocket watch. -=tries to pictures Duo polishing a pocket watch and giggles=-


	5. Part Four

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, mentioned 2x4, debate about war, Relena bashing, wished R+1, sap/fluff

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Some details may be incorrect. I get some creative license, right? -=sigh=-

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Four

April 11, 1941 

Quatre Winner came in at eleven, punctual as always, with a cheerful expression on his face. He was dressed similarly to Duo but was wearing red where he had green. "Good morning, Hilde! Duo…I'm glad to hear that the trip was successful – in more ways than one, at that."

Duo slightly narrowed his violet eyes. "Quatre…did you have coffee this morning?"

"No," the smaller blond-haired, turquoise-eyed young man chirped. "Is it illegal to be in a good mood before noon?" When the braided man didn't reply, he continued. "So! When do I get to meet Heero?"

Duo shot Hilde a treacherous glare. "He's upstairs; maybe later…I think he's getting worn out from meeting everyone I know."

The dark-haired young woman gave her boss and friend a smug grin. "We're just preparing him to deal with you."

"I have an idea!" Duo buried his head in his arms. "Trowa's on shore leave until September, so the four of us could go out tonight…for dinner or something. We'd get to meet Heero and talk about things other than the business."

He lifted his head, motioning for the gushing blond to halt for a moment. Duo pinched the bridge of his nose contemplatively. "Quatre…the last time I went to dinner with you and Trowa you had a _little_ to much wine and started comparing who was a better lay."

Quatre's eyes softened and he became solemn. "Well, Duo, it's not my fault that Trowa is more flexible than you."

Hilde felt like she heard enough. "Okay, I know when I've heard _more_ of my share. I'll leave the two of you to discuss alternative lifestyles while I go sort papers or something." She left, carefully closing the door behind her.

"At least tell me what Heero's like; he must be something special if you ended two years of solitude to date him and _then_ invited him to come home after two dates."

Duo sighed, trying to find _some_ answer that would satiate the blond's curiosity. "What's Trowa mean to you?"

The other young man blinked at the question. "Everything."

"Why?"

He snorted. "I couldn't even _begin_ to answer that question."

"That's what it's like with Heero and I."

Quatre sat down in a plush chair on the opposite Duo's. "Wow. That _fast_ too…"

Duo leaned on his elbows and started to massage his temples. "Quatre, how did you and Trowa meet?" When the other started to turn pink, Duo continued anyway. "Didn't you go to a bar, have a little too much to drink, and wake up with him the next morning?"

"Th-Th-That's different, though! And I don't regret doing it at all."

"Yeah, but it could have been anyone you woke up next to. You just got lucky."

Quatre smiled broadly. "You can say that again."

The door clicked open once more. "Duo, you have a meeting with Miss Darlian at noon tomorrow. Before you say anything, she refused to accept any other time, so you'll have to have an earlier or late lunch." Hilde shrugged. "You know how she can be." Duo leaned back in his chair, groaning. _Why Relena Darlian? Things have been going so well…she thinks she's the queen of the world._ "Oh, and Heero asked you to give me these." She left again.

Quatre blinked at the two objects; Duo just laughed and set them aside. "Milk and bread?" the blond was clueless.

Duo nodded, still chuckling. "Don't ask."

*~**~*

Duo happily relinquished the constricting tie and undid the top button of the green dress shirt before setting off to meet Quatre and Trowa at La Piña Frita[1]. Heero had managed to dig up black slacks and a blue shirt that fit from the back of Duo's closet; the braided American didn't even remember owning the items, but told Heero he could keep them if he wanted. Heero also had the top button undone, and it treated Duo to a tiny peek of the Japanese man's muscular chest. _The blue of the shirt compliments his eyes quite nicely, if I do say so myself._

Flipping his braid over a shoulder, Duo wondered if Quatre would mind if he called the restaurant saying they wouldn't meet them, after all. The violet-eyed American seemed hungry for something else…and it sure as hell wasn't Mexican food.

"It's just us, Quatre, and Trowa," they were in the back of a cab. The driver was steering like a maniac, but Duo was enjoying the excuse to lean against Heero without any public disapproval. "They're cool; they've, uh, _known_ each other for a little under two years, now. Funny story, actually, but I don't think they'd appreciate you hearing it from me. If Quatre starts drinking, though, you might want to watch out. He tends to be quite vocal when drunk." Duo paused. "Did I tell you I dated him way-back-when?" Heero shook his head. Duo swore mentally, hoping the cab driver didn't hear that. He didn't seem to notice. "Well, we did. If he starts talking about the, uh, bedroom part of our relationship, don't say I didn't warn you."

"You're not planning on drinking anything, are you?" 

Duo had flashbacks to the sake. "Um…maybe." Amethyst irises flashed mischievously. "And if you have _anything_ that's potentially volatile, I swear, you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

The cab pulled up besides La Piña Frita; Duo paid the driver and he sped off, causing the tires to squeal. He spotted Quatre and Trowa almost immediately. The two made quite the pair. Quatre hadn't changed clothes from work, and from the way he was squirming Duo could tell that the blond wanted to touch his tall lover but knew he had to wait until they were out of public view.

Trowa was dressed simply in a black shirt, top three buttons undone, and slacks that seemed to be a blue-gray with a hint of green. He was slightly taller than Duo, and only one emerald eye was visible; the other hidden behind a fall of light brown hair.

Quatre quickly closed the space between the two couples, Trowa right behind the energetic blond, and grabbed Heero's hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "Hi, Heero! My name's Quatre Raberba Winner, and this is Trowa Barton." Trowa merely nodded in greeting. "We've heard _so_ much about you!"

When Heero gave Duo an astounded look, the American shrugged and mouthed 'Hilde's big mouth.' Heero accepted his koibito's response and smiled politely at Quatre and Trowa as the blond boy let go of his hand. "It's a pleasure."

Duo stretched out his arms before grabbing Heero's in a way that he hoped looked just casual and friendly. "Let's go eat, guys; I'm starving!"

*~**~*

"So where are you going to be stationed next?"

"Aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, but I'm not on active duty again until September," Trowa took a sip from his tequila. Quatre was carefully nursing a piña colada, and Duo and Heero both got strawberry daiquiris, but Duo's was of the non-alcoholic variety. _The last time I had foreign alcohol I passed out in the middle of the restaurant; don't want to repeat that experience._

"I still don't see why that's necessary," Quatre stated. "Roosevelt _clearly_ doesn't want to get involved in the war. The country's still recovering from the Depression; not to mention that the majority of the population remembers the World War."

"We could still get attacked," Trowa pointed out. "The West and East coasts are being guarded more heavily now."

Duo snorted his disapproval. "They wouldn't need to be if Roosevelt never got that damned Lend-Lease Act started. He doesn't see that helping one side's enemy puts us in danger, whether we stay militarily neutral or not!"

The four of them were seated in a booth in the back of La Piña Frita; all were happy that they got privacy and no one was looking in their direction besides the waiters and waitresses that would walk by every now and then, but Duo and Quatre had found a way around to avoid any possible confrontations; they acted rip-roaring drunk, acting like they were leaning against Heero and Trowa for support instead of for contact with their lovers.

Duo played with the tail of his braid as he leaned into Heero's arms. "The Axis Powers are fighting weaker countries because it makes them feel powerful," Prussian blue eyes closed momentarily before reopening. "There is honor in the people fighting for their homes; in a case such as this, complete isolationism is impossible. The United States can only achieve it because she isn't in Europe or Asia. It would take a mass invasion force to do serious damage, and the Axis know they can't do it."

Trowa looked around to the others at the table. "It would take a direct attack on America before Roosevelt would allow Congress to consider declaring war; that's what we have to prevent."

"I still don't like it," Quatre pouted, resting his head on the green-eyed man's shoulder. "What if an attack were to come? I couldn't imagine living with the knowledge that the next moment could be your last."

Everyone at the table fell silent. The food arrived moments later, and the topic got changed abruptly.

*~**~*

_April 12, 1941_

A knock on the door and it clicked open. "Duo, Relena Darlian's here. Would you like me to show her in?"

"Do I have a choice?" Duo moaned. He absolutely hated the manipulative girl. Once upon a time he enjoyed dealing with the Darlians, but that was back before Relena's father was mysteriously assassinated. Mr. Darlian had been a good friend of his father's, so Duo had known Relena practically all his life, and he never could tolerate her. She was just so…snotty. Duo had been truly upset when he learned of Mr. Darlian's assassination; he was a good enough man, and both had loved Kline Maxwell very much. Duo became even more upset when he learned that Relena took charge of the company.

"I'm sorry, Duo, but it looks like you don't. If it gets bad, pretend you have a headache to wrap things up quicker." Hilde gave a wicked grin. "Or you could say you have a headache and leave Quatre to deal with her."

"Hild', you're evil. I think I'll leave her with _you_. Just show her in. The sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be done."

Relena Darlian entered a moment later, nodding curtly in Duo's direction, and sitting down before it was offered to her. The young woman seemed quite intend on smoothing out the folds of her skirt…

"I think we've known each other long enough to be on first name terms, don't you agree, Duo?" She pushed a strand of wheat blonde hair behind one ear. Relena was speaking calmly, almost with an air of camaraderie, but Duo knew how deceptive the woman could be. He would have to be on his guard.

He shrugged. "Whatever suits you, Relena. Since we've known each other for _such_ a long time, let's get to the point. What do you want?"

"Our fathers were good friends, Duo. I think we should follow their dreams and merger the two businesses."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, come on, Duo, it would have happened eventually, but Death comes at such inconvenient times, so we, as the companies' benefactors, must continue as before.

"Relena, my father would not want his business to be joined up with your father's, no matter how good friends they were. I would have known if he wished it that way, so he must not have."

The woman sighed dejectedly and leaned back into the chair. "I thought you'd react that way. I was willing to let you split fifty-fifty, but since you aren't going along I'll have to make things difficult." She held up a piece of paper. "This is a list of all the companies and private individuals you have dealings with. It would be a shame if they decided they liked the sound of _my_ business more and cancelled their dealings with you. Profits would plummet and you'd have to come crawling for me to reopen the deal I just laid forth. You'd be lucky if I let you receive a quarter of the profit margin, then. I'd probably just _buy_ everything off you and let you have nothing."

If Duo hadn't prepared for the worst, he would have been outraged, but he smiled calmly instead. He knew he could vent later. _Yes, the threat is there, but Relena's company only has one advantage over mine, and that's commercialism, but that will gain her potential new customers instead of stealing mine away._ "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Relena, but I don't feel intimidated in the least bit. You're attempt was comical, if anything, so please leave before you embarrass yourself anymore."

"Maxwell, this is preposterous! You have absolutely no chance against me and my father's business! You _must_ recognize that unless you're too deluded to think clearly."

"_Goodbye_, Relena."

The woman scowled and left. Hilde peeked her head in the door. "Everything all right?"

Duo sighed. "Cancel my other meetings; you and Quatre can go home. We're closing shop early today."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

*~**~*

"What a _bitch_! I swear, Heero, Relena Darlian is the Devil's personal whore!" Duo was still feeling bitter from that afternoon's meeting. "She has some nerve to think she can threaten me! God, I wouldn't be surprised if _she_ was the one who assassinated her father!"

Heero had suggested they go for a walk for Duo to blow off some steam. It seemed to be working one minute, but the next the American was blowing off a whole new round of insults about the young woman, her religious practices, her possible heritage, and even her sexual relationships.

They stopped at a small grocer. Duo had a strange craving for strawberries, and when you've lived in California all your life, you get used to getting fruit and vegetables in odd seasons.

"You shouldn't let her get to you like that," Heero tried reasoning. "She'd be content just knowing she had an effect on you."

"Yeah, you're right…" Duo looked around, making sure no one was looking, before popping a strawberry in his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "This batch is good. Juicy and sweet, but also a little sour…" They purchased a small container full before leaving. "So how's your job search going?"

"I think I found one. The pay's not too great, but it isn't bad, either. It'd be temporary until I found something else."

"Really? What is it?"

"Teaching English to Japanese immigrants. Mostly adults, but there are some children. There's been an influx of Japanese immigrants to the States since the start of the war and there aren't enough people who know both languages." Heero shrugged. "It's a start."

"Hey, if you enjoy it, you should stick with it." Duo gave a lop-sided grin. "Look at me; I dropped out right after midterms senior year of high school because I just couldn't balance school _and_ my father's company. I may be a high school dropout, but I enjoy what I do and that makes all the difference." He popped another juicy, red fruit in his mouth and looked around.

Satisfied that no one was in the area, he leaned into Heero and they exchanged a strawberry-flavored kiss. "Ai shiteru."

Duo smiled. He was getting used to hearing the phrase in Japanese; he actually loved it even more because of what Heero said it represented. Not to mention that the Japanese made it sound much more…exotic. "I love you, too."

"Duo Maxwell…amazing the people you run in to these days." The braided man stiffened at the voice. _Fuck me with a broomstick…_

"Relena," he put on a fake smile, quickly turning his contact with Heero into a casual lean, hoping she hadn't noticed. _That would be wonderful for her to send to the press, Duo, wouldn't it?_ "Fancy seeing you here," Duo was practically growling.

The woman returned a false smile that soon spread into a flirtatious one. "And who is your friend here?"

Duo didn't want to answer her, but she might use his being impolite as leverage against him. "This is Heero Yuy."

"Heero," she repeated, getting a feel for the name. "My name is Relena Darlian. Has anyone told you what pretty eyes you have?"

Duo had to suppress a bark of a laugh. _Of course he has…from me…_

"Yes," Heero replied, making it sound like it happened everyday. He gave Duo a glance that screamed what-the-hell-is-it-doing-get-it-off-get-it-off-get-it-off.

"Well, they're very nice. Why would you associate yourself with someone like Duo Maxwell, anyway?"

Heero looked unsure. Honesty would most likely have gotten her off his back, but it would create more problems, as well. "He's my…friend."

Relena smiled sweetly, and it caused Duo's teeth to ache. "You're not seeing anyone, by any chance, Heero?"

"Yes, actually, I am," Heero smoothly removed himself from her grip and returned to stand besides Duo. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get going."

"I'll see you again, Heero; that is a certainty. Especially if you keep associating yourself with _him_. Maybe you could get Maxwell to smarten up; get him to realize that the merger would be to a mutual advantage. I'll see you around." Duo resisted the urge to throw up as Relena walked away, swaying her hips in a way that she thought must be seductive.

"Jesus, I can't take you anywhere, Heero. It really is ridiculous!" Duo felt an arm wrap around his waist and was immediately pulled to his love's side.

"You were right," Heero replied, a light curving of his lips hinting a small smile. "She _is_ the Devil's personal whore."

Duo laughed. "Yeah? She wants to be yours!"

The Japanese man lightly tugged on the other's braid. "That's too bad for her; I already belong to you."

"Even if she does manage to bankrupt the company, at least I'll have you."

Heero thought for a moment. "Unless she killed me."

Duo thwacked him upside the head. "_Don't _even joke around about that!"

*~**~*

Duo stood in the shower, letting the warm water beat on his back. He had already finished the extensive task of washing his hair; now he was just savoring the heated liquid as it splashed onto his flesh and ran down the length of his body.

When he and Heero returned home, there was a letter sticking out of the mailbox. It had been from Nakamura-san saying that the first trade had been successful and he would be more than happy to continue business with the American. Duo felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders; if _one_ of his associates was pleased with business, there was no reason for the rest of them to not be.

Relena had thought she'd be able to find a sensitive nerve, but it looks like she wouldn't be able to sweet talk Duo's associates away from his business.

Light caresses were felt on Duo's back, and he leaned into them, finding a new source of warmth. "Heero…" he moaned lightly.

"Don't talk right now, koi; just feel."

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku

[1] The Fried Pineapple…I don't know…sounded cool in my head and if you translate restaurant names, most of them are pretty weird, anyway.


	6. Part Five

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, alluded m/m sex, dirty talk (sorta-kinda), political-schmitical stuff, post-lemon (Ah ha! I'm making up new terms now!), sap (toothache warning)

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Part 5 begins a month after part 4 and jumps around in the timeline from there. -=sings=- It's my story; I can change months if I want to, months if I want to… And after writing this story, I completely forgot Heero-kun and Duo-kun's birthdays. -=sweatdrop=- I said Heero's was June and Duo's was August sometime, but they never get written in. Well, they'll both be 20 after this part if anyone's keeping track. ^-^

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Five

May 12, 1941 

The past month came and went in a flurry, and spring finally settled in without any major incidences. Turned out that Heero was pretty damn allergic to ragweed; the mere presence of it would cause his eyes to get red and watery, and that was on a good day.

Relena Darlian never returned to the office, but she _did_ keep leaving messages for the Japanese man with Hilde, and _that_ was slowly wearing thin on Duo's nerves. No associates left his business for the woman's, and while the longhaired American never saw that as an actual threat, the possibility had been hovering over his, Quatre's, and Hilde's heads for sometime.

Otherwise, Duo couldn't have been happier.

Besides the issue with the ragweed, Heero had settled into the San Francisco lifestyle quite nicely. He enjoyed his new job immensely; the other staff members loved him, as well, because the students learned easier with Heero. The other teachers only knew enough Japanese to get them through the lessons everyday. Heero was bilingual and spoke Japanese as well as English fluently.

Back at home Heero was teaching Duo Japanese. It was easier to correspond with Nakamura-san that way – even though Heero still did translation – and it gave Duo a way to talk to Heero without thinking his friends were eavesdropping. His lover had told him that he was a fast learner.

They were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Technically Heero was making omelets and Duo was gingerly sitting in a chair flipping through the paper. He was still a little sore from the previous evening's…activities. Finding no headlines that were particularly worthy of his interest, Duo stood up slowly and wrapped his arms around Heero's waist, hugging him from behind.

"Nan desu ka?"

Duo grinned demonically, resting his head on Heero's shoulder. "I was just picturing you in that apron…and nothing else."

Heero turned his head, Prussian blue looking pointedly into violet. "Hentai."

"Come on, Hee-chan!" Duo's grin broadened further when he saw Heero's eye twitch with his use of the honorific suffix for girls. "How 'bout right here…on the table? Or maybe even the floor!"

"Duo…" the Japanese man's eyes were stern but the corners of his mouth quirked upwards into a smile. "Sex on linoleum would be too…slippery."

Duo pouted playfully. "Fine." He briefly kissed the other's mouth. "At least tell me that you love me."

Heero turned around in his koi's arms, wrapping his arms around his body. "Ai shiteru, Duo." He leaned forward and pressed the kiss further, but Duo ended it with a nip at Heero's lower lip.

"Nuh uh, Heero, in English. Just to make sure you aren't pulling my leg with the Japanese," Duo kept his mouth hovering a mere centimeter over Heero's, expectant of the other man's response.

"I love you, Duo. Even when you're being a stubborn, suspicious pain in the ass." To emphasize the last word, he smacked Duo's butt with the spatula. "Now if you'll excuse me," he said after another kiss, "my omelets are going to burn."

Duo laughed. "And here I thought you _didn't_ want to be a housewife!"

*~**~*

_July 8, 1941_

Duo blinked in obvious confusion when his brother slammed open his office door and casually dumped himself in the chair parallel to Duo's. Solo seemed to be fidgeting over something, but why his brother should be nervous over anything was beyond Duo.

"You're not here to talk about me, are you?" the braided man asked, slightly narrowing his eyes. It had been months since the first incident, but Duo was still a little apprehensive. He had enough to worry about.

Solo shook his head. "No…I need to tell you something…"

_What would he need to tell me? Unless he wants me to put a leash on Hilde, but he wouldn't seem so…distracted because of it._ "Sure. What's up?" 

Solo handed him a piece of paper. "I was sent this a few hours ago."

Violet eyes widened. It was a draft with the distinctively scrawled signature of a certain Solo Maxwell. _Iceland was occupied yesterday… Roosevelt saw it as a precaution against any Nazi ships crossing the Atlantic. The country is getting prepared for a war we aren't even involved it; the people want to fight, but Roosevelt doesn't think it's necessary and wants to stay as neutral as possible._ "Solo…you signed up in the draft?"

"Duo, come on, it was practically a year ago! I didn't think the 'States would actually get anywhere in the war."

The younger Maxwell read over the paper again. "You're to be stationed as ground troops in order to help the British? So now the government is lending soldiers as well as ships!?"

Solo averted his green-eyed gaze. "I'm just worried about telling Mom…how she'll take it. I'll be able to study the psychology of men in an intensely stressful and terrifying situation! Only war can cause such high emotions; it's the perfect opportunity for a study!"

"I…I don't understand…" _He's enjoying this? He's seeing going to war as a psychological study, not that he's going have to kill in order to not be killed._

The other sighed, running fingers through short wheat-blond hair. "You're not supposed to understand. You're a businessman; I'm almost a doctor. We have different career ethnics to follow; I'm sure you'd be eager to sell food to the war-torn nations if you could."

Duo stood up quickly, slamming the palms of his hands against the desk, causing the wood to rattle. "_No_ I _wouldn't_! It isn't fair to take advantage of others' misfortunes to make a profit! I don't understand _how_ you can go to a place where peoples' personalities will do a one-eighty and you'll be _enjoying_ it! You're just as bad as Hitler if you can find so much entertainment out of it!"

Solo looked up from where he sat, alerted by his brother's change in temperament. He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Duo…you're making a scene. And you're being unfair by automatically comparing me to Hitler because our views differ."

"So now _I'm_ being unfair? Do you think that it's _fair_ to Mom that you could get killed? They won't hail you as a hero; you'll just be seen as another number in the masses; another body to be left to the vultures or for beggars to steal clothes off of![1] I don't want to talk to you anymore; get out." 

"Now Duo…"

"Get. Out. Now!"

Solo left quickly but calmly. Duo sat back down and leaned against his elbows, pinching the bridge of his nose. A few moments later, a different blond head peeked in the doorway. "Is everything alright?"

"Neh, come in, Quatre, I want to ask you something." When the smaller young man was seated across from him, door lightly closed, Duo rested his chin in his hands and met the curious aquamarine gaze. "Do you get angry with Trowa for knowingly putting himself in danger?"

Quatre got a knowing light in his eye. "I used to, but I realized that there was nothing I could do about it; I just have to trust that Trowa knows what he's doing and hope for the best. That doesn't keep me from worrying, though."

"Hm, I see. You think the war's going to end soon?"

The slight blond shrugged. "I think it would be faster if the US got involved; if the Axis Powers have Roosevelt and Churchill nervous, it would probably be better for Roosevelt to stop pretending to be an isolationist and let us help out where we're needed."

"Even if it cost Trowa's life?"

Tourmaline eyes turned melancholy. "I don't think I'm allowed to be selfish; how many people in Europe and Asia have lost their loved ones so far?"

*~**~*

August 14, 1941 

"Hee~ro…where are we going?" Duo looked apprehensive as his lover motioned for him to sit in the passenger seat of the jeep. "And can't we walk?"

The Japanese man shook his head. "That would defeat the purpose of going where we are." Heero raised an eyebrow when he saw that Duo still made no move to get in the vehicle. "Do I need to help you _into_ the carriage, mademoiselle?" he asked playfully. Duo scowled and made a huffing sound as he opened the door and slammed in behind him. Heero couldn't help but laugh, but then he saw Duo grasping the door handle so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Koi, you need to relax. Do you trust me?"

"…Yes…" Duo replied, sounding a little uncertain.

"Then leave the poor door handle alone." When Duo lightened his grasp a little, Heero started the car. "Listen to the radio or something.[2]"

Duo quickly switched on the AM band, glad for some distraction. _Maybe they'll be some good news… Like maybe Hitler finally got laid and realized he was just taking sexual frustration out on all the people he's destroying…_

"And in the news today… President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration by the United States and Britain expressing certain common principles in their national policies to be followed in the postwar period.

  
"The two leaders declared that the US and Britain seek no territorial, or any other, aggrandizement from the war. They proclaimed the right of all peoples to choose their own form of government and not to have boundary changes imposed on them. The right of all nations – victors and vanquished – to have access to the earth's natural resources was also recognized, as was the desirability of economic cooperation among nations and improved living conditions for working people. The charter expresses the hope that, after the defeat of the Nazis, all countries will be able to feel secure from aggression, and that the people of the world would be free from fear and want. It also recognizes the principle of freedom of the seas, expresses the conviction that humanity must renounce the use of force in international relations, and affirms the need for disarmament after the expected Allied victory. Furthermore…[3]"

"This is ridiculous! Why the hell are they so damn sure that the Allies will win? Roosevelt sure is talking big for someone who won't ask Congress to send us to war! Hey…why are we stopping here?" Duo looked around them. _A big empty lot? Maybe Heero got sick of using the bedroom…and the couch…and the recliner…and the kitchen table…and the desk in my office. I don't even like cars…although the back seat is rather big…_

Heero turned off the car and tossed the keys to his koibito. "You're driving."

"WHAT?! Heero…babe…have you gone _insane_?! You know I can't drive!"

"You're going to have to; I don't know how to get back." Heero moved to the back and closed his eyes while crossing his arms. He looked like he was taking a nap.

"Bullshit, you got us here! Unless you really _are_ lost even though I can't imagine how. I'll tell you how to get us back then!"

"I don't understand English."

"HEERO!" One Prussian blue eye cracked open, and Duo attempted a pitiful whimper in response. "I-I can't!"

"Why don't?"

"I just _can't_!"

Heero sighed, sliding over so he was positioned behind Duo and began to massage the other young man's neck and shoulders. "Do I need to give you some kind of incentive, hm?" He leaned forward and lightly nipped Duo's earlobe. "I'm sure I could think of _some_ way to motivate you," Heero's voice got huskier and it caused Duo to shudder involuntarily. "Maybe we could get some takeout? Then we could go to…bed…early. I know how much you _love_ fudge-dipped strawberries…"

Heero let out a low chuckle as Duo slipped out of his grasp and tentatively crawled into the driver's seat. "Well…I guess there's no harm in _trying_, right?" His voice sounded shaky, but even Duo couldn't tell whether it was from his nervousness or the sudden lust Heero induced in him. He buckled the safety belt, tightening it as much as possible. He slowly turned the ignition, listening to the rumble as the engine started up. Trying to keep his hands from trembling, he shifted into first gear and the car stalled.

Duo could hear Heero's breath in his ear. "Try the clutch first, koi. It's just like riding a bicycle again." Duo almost said something about how he never _needed_ a bicycle but bit his tongue instead. Strangely enough, the lust he was feeling for Heero practically overrode his fear of driving, and the mental image of him dipping a strawberry into the pool of fudge that settled in his lover's bellybutton was driving Duo insane.[4]

The braided American tried again, remembering to depress the clutch as he shifted gears.[5] The jeep started smoothly, and Duo thought he'd go cross-eyed from simple pleasure as Heero went from massaging his shoulders to his scalp. _If he keeps this up, the backseat is starting to look really good!_

"Are you feeling okay?"

Duo snorted. "Why's it matter?" He smiled. "I thought you don't understand English."

"Hn. Baka. I had to try something."

"Why are you so desperate to get me to drive, anyway?"

Duo saw Heero shrug in the rearview mirror. "We could leave the city; go someplace a little more…private."

Duo suddenly remembered the winter cabin his family had in the mountains. He wondered if they still owned it or if they sold it when his father passed away. _We just might have some use for it after all._

*~**~*

_Boy that sure was some incentive!_ was all Duo could think as collapsed onto Heero, exhausted and covered in a fine sheen of sweat, as he carefully pulled out of the tight, hot sheath that was his Japanese lover's body. He bent forward and captured Heero's mouth in a tender, lazy kiss as the other man ran his fingers through long, chestnut tangles.

"Boku no itoshii tenshi," Heero said fondly, raising a hand to cup the side of his love's heart-shaped face. "Ai shiteru itsumo."

The corners of Duo's mouth turned up in a grin. Heero hadn't taught him _all_ Japanese…just the important stuff…which basically meant endearments and profanities. "I love you, too, Heero." Duo placed his hand over Heero's, intertwining their fingers and moving their held hands so they were over the American's heart. "Eternally yours."

"Eternally mine…" Heero repeated, a slight smile adorning his features with love shining in his deep blue eyes. "I like the sound of that," he said, and laughed when a light blush tinged Duo's cheeks.

They exchanged a chaste kiss before curling up in the sheets together and falling asleep.

*~**~*

_August 15, 1941_

Duo came back from his lunch break with Hilde shortly before twelve-thirty and was greeted with the sight of Quatre sitting in Trowa's lap, each man trying to shove his tongue down the other's throat. Duo lightly cleared his throat, causing Quatre to jump two feet in the air and turn a comical shade of red. "DuoI'msorryIdidn'tknowyou'dbecomingbackearly!"

Duo shook his hand at the pair, excusing the apology. "Hey, don't worry about it; it's still lunch time, anyway. Anything…interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. You're mother wants us to go over for dinner sometime this weekend; Relena Darlian thinks she owns this place and tried to get upstairs but we…took care of that problem; somebody called thinking I was Hilde but hung up when they realized I wasn't; I think I'm forgetting something… Oh! There was a delivery for you. I left it on your desk."

_Delivery? Was I expecting something?_ "Aa, thanks, Cat. You guys still have five minutes for lunch, but keep in mind that Hilde isn't as nice _or_ as tolerant as I am. Oh, and Trowa?" The taller, green-eyed man blinked in response. "Watch out…he bites."

Trowa smiled slightly, his visible green-eye gleaming impishly. "I know."

*~**~*

Duo stood at his office door with his hand hovering over the knob. _Quatre said it's a delivery… That can't be anything bad, right? What if one of the customers did cancel and decided to go to Relena? Or maybe she wanted to get rid of me and the box will explode the second I open it._ Duo shuddered at the last thought. _I don't even want to think about what that girl is capable of._

He slowly creaked the door open and peeked inside…and immediately felt his heart melt. Lying wrapped in white paper on his desk was a dozen red roses, all of them perfect and just as beautiful as the next one. Duo picked up the card that was sitting amongst the roses. "Look in the top left-hand drawer," he read aloud. Heero's neat, careful script was legible in the black ink on the white paper, and Duo wondered what his love was up to.

In the top left-hand drawer was another card, only this one was bigger and in an envelope. He quickly scanned the card and felt his eyes widen in surprise. "My dearest Duo; I know we just met four months and a week ago, but I feel as if I have known you for a lifetime. I know your church would forbid it and their would be no official legality, but I wish to belong to each other for all of eternity. Look in the top right-hand drawer."

Duo felt his heartbeat speed up. _Is this really what I think it is?_ He carefully opened the drawer, and inside, sitting on a stack of papers and other documents, was a black velvet box. He picked it up slowly, almost not believing that it was real. His eyes felt wet all of a sudden as he slowly opened it, gasping at the box's contents.

Two rings of white gold sat next to each other. They were precisely identical except for where one had an inset band of sapphires and diamonds cut inside the gold, the other had a band of amethyst and diamond.[6] A small, folded piece of paper was balanced between them, and Duo unfolded it with trembling fingers. "Duo, will you marry me?"

A knock was at the door and he heard it click open and shut. Duo was too entranced with the objects in the velvet box that he didn't register the other's presence until he saw another form entering his field of vision. "H-Heero?!" he gasped, not wishing to find that he was dreaming or it was a mistake. 

Prussian blue eyes just gazed at him, expectant and slightly nervous. "Why are you crying, koi? You aren't supposed to be sad."

"I'm just…so happy," he smiled broadly before launching himself into Heero's arms. "Yes. Yesyesyesyes! Oh, Heero, yes!" He watched elatedly as Heero placed the sapphire and diamond band on his finger; Duo grabbed the amethyst and diamond one to put on Heero's. "I love you, Heero Yuy; screw the church and fuck legality, I will marry you!"

"I'm glad; I love you, Duo Maxwell…"

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku

[1] I saw some documentary…this really happened. There would be bodies lying in battlefields and people that traveled through would take money, clothes, jewelry, or whatever else the soldiers had. Dead soldiers were stripped of weapons and metal for future use.

[2] Did cars have radios back then? Eh. They might have. Look, I'm making Heero's language less articulate…check out that sentence. He might as well be saying "Listen to the thing that plays that music stuff." LOL.

[3] Information basically copied from http://www.encarta.com under the search "Atlantic Charter".

[4] -=giggles=- Hey, it's driving me insane to! O.O

[5] I have no idea how to drive stick… I'm making it up as I go along. Wow, I'm feeling really footnote-happy today, aren't I?

[6] I have pics if anyone's curious… Yes I _did_ do research before writing this part!


	7. Interlude One

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: This isn't part of the story… It's a gigantic author's note! Please do read it, though. It might answer a few questions. Song at the end is "H" by Tool.

Morning Will Come 

                        Interlude One

Sorry, everyone, but you have to get to the main plot of every fic eventually. I wanted to get at least five parts in before I got into the true nature of this story, and I had to force myself to get the last part out before jumping to the good stuff.

Wonderful fluffiness with a tiny bit of angst tinged in the beginning, though, wasn't there? This story has been full of firsts for me; I'm normally not _this_ sappy! ::laughs::

I've been emailed asking about how this story is going to end. I'll tell you all now: I don't know. I have ideas on how it _could_ end, but the actually ending depends on what my muses are feeling when my fingers are flying too fast for my brain to keep up with the words I'm putting in Word. We've already seen some lovely examples of my fingers getting ahead of my brain and my muses writing the story without consulting me first. In Part One, my original plan was for Duo to ask Heero to dinner, and the reverse happened. The citrus scene in Part Two wrote itself…trust me on that. (It just kinda came out. My first citrus scene, too. Hope it's okay. I feel so hentai now. ^_~) Kline Maxwell's death was unplanned, as well. I wanted Duo to feel some remorse over it, but I didn't plan for him to die in an accident. I was thinking cancer originally, actually. Relena's role was completely different in my original planning, Helen Maxwell was never supposed to be seen as an actual character, and I sure as hell didn't plan Heero's proposal. So stay on your toes for how the story develops. Even I will be surprised.

Trowa's fate is very much unknown at this point, so stop asking me! You'll find out soon enough. _Very_ soon because the next part is starting December 7, 1941. I know, that means I'm jumping _months_ again, but the only real difference in the next part will be that Solo's at a training camp, and Trowa's not around anymore. He's at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii which gets bombed December 7, 1941. Buh ba bummmmmm!

Chapter lengths will be shifting from here on in. We'll get a new and exciting POV, too, in a little while. I'm still having problems writing the Heero in this story, which is lovely because I just figured out how to write the canon Heero and now I'm having problems gauging the one I created.

The rest of the story from here on in is going to be a hell of a lot less fun, so if you want to end Morning Will Come at Part Five, go ahead, I can't stop you, but you really aren't being fair to the story. These upcoming chapters are the parts that I've been looking forward to for the past couple months, so not having an audience will be quiet upsetting. I love feedback, people! I thrive on it, and the more I get, the more I feel like I should keep going! Thank you to the people who _have_ been very supportive of this story! I'm my own worst critic, so my opinion of this work isn't as high as it could be, and you people give me the motivation to carry on. I know it seems like a long time between additions, but junior year of high school sucks royally.

Well, I went off on a tangent and probably forgot what I wanted to cover, but I should stop now before Interlude One gets too long.

*~**~*

_What's coming through is alive. What's holding up is a mirror. _

_What's singing songs is a snake and I'm looking to turn the piss to wine. _

_They're both totally void of hate, but killing me just the same. _

_The snake behind me hisses what my damage could have been. _

_My blood before me begs me open up my heart again. _

_And I feel this coming over like a storm again. Considerately. _

_Venomous voice, tempts me, drains me,_

_bleeds me, leaves me cracked and empty. _

_Drags me down like some sweet gravity. _

_The snake behind me hisses what my damage could have been. _

_My blood before me begs me open up my heart again. _

_And I feel this coming over like a storm again. _

_I feel this coming over like a storm again. _

_I am too connected to you to slip away, fade away. _

_Days away I still feel you touching me, changing me. _

_Considerately kill me. Considerately kill me._

_Considerately kill me. Considerately kill me._

_Without the skin, here, beneath the storm. _

_Under these tears, now, the walls came down. _

_As the snake is drowned and as I look in his eyes, _

_my fear begins to fade recalling all of the times. _

_I could have cried then. I should have cried then. _

_As the walls come down and as I look in your eyes, _

_my fear begins to fade recalling all of the times I have died _

_and will die. It's all right. I don't mind. I don't mind. I don't mind._

_I am too connected to you to slip away, to fade away. _

_Days away I still feel you touching me, changing me. _

_Considerately kill me. Considerately kill me. Considerately kill me._

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku


	8. Part Six

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, death

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: This part is written differently from all the previous others; I wanted more of a journal-type reaction than a step-by-step third-person narration, so this will seem more like a journal or a letter. Then the POV switches to present from past but stays in first person. It might be confusing, but that's how I wanted this part to flow.

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Six

December 7, 1941 

They're calling it the day that will live in infamy. At 7:55 in the morning, just before 10:00 Pacific Standard Time, nineteen American ships were either sunk or damaged, and they're saying that as many as twenty-five hundred are presumed dead.

Maybe I should fill you in on what went on today.

I woke up late like habit every Sunday morning; aren't expected to show up at work downstairs at any particular time, so Sundays are usually the sluggish, lazy days off. Only work half-days on Saturday, but the fact that I still have to be downstairs by eight (which means awake at six sharp) gets ridiculous on a day-by-day basis.

So Sundays are the sleeping-in days. Mind you, I don't sleep in until lunchtime, but eight-thirty is nice and late to someone used to getting up two-and-a-half hours earlier. Heero doesn't work Saturdays or Sundays, the lucky bastard (_my_ lucky bastard), so Sunday mornings really are the only mornings we get to spend together without hurried kisses goodbye and I'll-see-you-laters, so of course we go all out and have a nice, sometimes messy, breakfast together.

Breakfast is usually made up of coffee so strong that you tremble violently and your eyes dart back and forth inside your skull with a muffin…blueberry, generally (hey, I like tradition), but sometimes you can find something special lying around. Like Mom's banana nut bread…damn that's good stuff…

Where was I going with this? Oh yes! So Sunday breakfasts are usually special. I know I'm a sucker for a good Belgian waffle, but maple syrup normally ends up less on the waffle and more on Heero or myself which really is a bitch to get out of hair whether its as long as mine or not.

If it had been any day other than a Sunday, the radio would have been on and I would have heard about the news as soon as it happened, but no CBS news broadcast was going to ruin this particularly sticky Sunday morning as Heero and I tried to figure out what to put on that morning's pancakes. We _would_ have had the maple syrup, but it can be just so damn expensive out hear since it has to be shipped across the country.[1] Orange marmalade seemed to do the job quite nicely…even washed off of skin and out of hair without too much of a problem during out breakfast interlude.

So it was safe to say that it was a little past ten when Hilde came barging in the door, and with me dripping wet in a towel with my hair down and Heero changing because what he had been wearing before got a little…messy, neither of us had been quite prepared for what she had to say. I was getting ready to bitch the woman out; just because she has a key doesn't mean she's at liberty to use it whenever she wants, you know?

"What the _hell_ is wrong with the two of you?"

I had actually been prepared to ask her a similar question, but the look in her eyes made me stop any comeback I might have had. It was a rhetorical question, anyway; and I didn't feel like there was anything wrong with either of us at this time… Except for the fact that I'm wearing only a towel and my hair in front of one of my best friends who happens to be a girl.

"Do you live in a box!?"

Another rhetorical question that I chose to ignore.

"Don't you even care about what's going on out there?" Hilde was seething as she pointed out the window.

And then we took her literally.

"It's raining," Heero replied simply, looking miffed with the interruption.

"Yeah, Hilly; it happens quite frequently around here in this time of year," I really wanted to get dressed, but I wasn't just going to drop towel in front of Hilde so I could get a decent pair of pants on. Not that I have any problem with my body or anything… It is just there's some things that friends _aren't_ supposed to share, if you know what I mean.

She blinked almost dumbly at us, as if we had been joking. God, we seriously thought she had practically broken into the place to bitch about the weather!

"You…you haven't been listening to the radio?" The disbelief was evident in her voice.

"No, we haven't," I replied, getting more and more curious as to what was really going on. I just don't care about the news on Sundays. Sundays are supposed to be special; the day me and Heero get to spend the whole twenty-four hours with each other without the damn radio telling us about Hitler's latest invasion or how many people were slaughtered by Yamamoto's troops the previous day. When all news is bad news, you start questioning why you have to put up with it to begin with. Some days the radio is just _asking_ to be thrown out the God damn window. 

"Well let me get dressed and I'll be there in a second!" I had smiled gratefully at Heero as the guided Hilde into the kitchen to get me some privacy. I just love him so much that sometimes it feels like I'm dreaming and any minute I'll wake up.

I got dressed and walked in on a radio broadcast. The reporter was mid-sentence; Hilde looked royally pissed and like she was about to cry at the same time. Heero's hands were clenched into fists at his side and his face was impassive, his tense shoulders and clenched hands the only signs of how he felt.

"…There has been heavy damage done in Hawaii and there has been heavy loss of life. Repeat: The American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed at 7:55 am. Nineteen American ships were damaged or destroyed and the death toll is now over two thousand and still climbing…"

It took me a moment to figure out why Pearl Harbor sounded so familiar; it took another moment to connect the knowledge of who was there to what had happened there. I remember my initial thoughts after the fact of the matter dawned on me: Shit. Fuck. No.

Trowa…Trowa was stationed in Hawaii. Death toll over two thousand and still climbing. Trowa might be dead. The fact that we still don't know if he survived or not is nearly unbearable.

I think Quatre went into shock when we heard the news. Heero said he'd go get Quatre; Hilde told him that it might not be a good idea, so she went instead.

"W-Why wasn't it a good idea for you to go?" I had managed to say. I was clearly missing some vital information about the attack. Heero just gave me a distant look in reply. I had never seen him like that before; he seemed locked up inside himself, the way I was for a long time after my father's death.

I had another revelation at that moment. I don't know if a revelation is the right word for it, but something sure happened. It wouldn't have made sense if the Germans attacked Pearl Harbor; that required them crossing two continents, and as much as the United States and the USSR[2] despise each other, we have a common enemy, and there is no way Hitler could get troops across the USSR without anyone knowing.

The Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan… Japan only has an ocean to cross, and that's easy with the ships and planes that exist in this day of age. Heero doesn't know Trowa that well, so it's a little ridiculous to think he'd seem so…cold of the possibility of Trowa being…dead; the Japanese being the ones who attacked us seemed to be the only sensible answer.

But why couldn't Heero go get Quatre? He happens to be half-Japanese, big deal; Hilde's of German heritage. They couldn't be persecuted for that, could they? I mean, if Americans turned again German, Italian, or Japanese-Americans, wouldn't we be no better off than Hitler with his quest to create the perfect Aryan race?

The irony of this whole situation kicked in rather quickly. Myself, as pureblooded American as you can get, stuck in a triangle. My best friend, blond-haired, blue-eyed…the perfect Aryan; Hilde, both of her parents German immigrants, moving to the United States before they had been old enough to start school, and Heero, my love, my husband, Japanese even though to some extent he can't even stand his own people and the prejudice that got his parents killed because of the union outside their ethnicity.

I probably could have cried then, but I didn't. I did later, when it was safe and I could cry into my pillow and only Heero, myself, and our bedroom could bear witness to it, but right then right there just wasn't the right time.

Quatre was in denial; he had heard about the news, but it didn't seem to register in his brain until he looked me in the eye. Sometimes having a reputation for never lying is a burden; Quatre saw the truth, and it connected in his brain, and I think he snapped. Well, less snapped and more of a mental breakdown. I never realized he could throw such a deft punch until I tried to calm him down and he got me in the jaw. I think I bit my tongue because I know I tasted blood, but time seemed to slow while actions started to blend together almost so it seemed that the world was a movie reel and some frames were being skipped over as they happened.

They say that when a loved one dies, a person goes into different stages of grieving. I probably went through all of them when my father died, but I'm pretty sure we saw Quatre go through all of them right then and there. What is it? Denial, anger, grief, and acceptance; sometimes they repeat and sometimes there's displacement and a boatload of others. Quatre came in, acting right-as-rain, then attacks me, getting out all the anger, before collapsing onto the floor wracked with sobs.

Me feeling like the asshole the whole time, sitting besides him on the floor, letting him cry on my shoulder as I keep Heero in my vision, once again relishing in how much I love him and how lucky I am to still have him unlike Quatre who's lover has a high probability of no longer being alive.

I remember clutching at my father's cross beneath my shirt and praying. I haven't done that in a very long time, and I was praying for Trowa's well being soon followed by giving my thanks for the attack not affecting my family.

I said I felt like an asshole, didn't I? I still do, actually.

Then I thought about Solo, off at a military training camp somewhere in the Midwest. Mom took that news surprisingly well. I guess that's because she remembers the First World War.

They're calling this one the Second.

Mom had a brother, several cousins, and an uncle or two that lost lives in the last one. Solo was practically born in the middle of it. Dad had been stationed on the home front, and growing up we'd heard enough stories from Relena Darlian's father for us to find better games as children than ones that involved improvised militaristic fighting.

Darlian raised his kids to be pacifists. That's the reason we thought Milliardo, the eldest, ran away. He wanted to fight in this war yet didn't want to dishonor his father's instruction. Wish he stayed; Milliardo would have been nicer to do business dealings with than that bitch sister of his…

Neither of us feel like going to bed right now. Maybe I won't open the place up tomorrow. Heero managed to find a military station that's gone through the list of confirmed dead and goes through the state of each soldier or civilian if they find the body dead or alive.

Haven't mentioned a Trowa Barton yet. I keep trying to remember what he would have been doing. Would he have been on base at the time or inland? Was he on one of the boats? Nineteen of those are gone. The Japanese submarines and bombers saw to that.

Mom called. She said St. Mary's is supposed to ring the bell for every person that was killed this morning. I think it would save time to ring for the survivors, instead. As callous as it might sound, maybe an observed moment of silence would be more practical.

*~**~*

Still no news on Trowa.

Quatre actually seems to be handling the situation pretty well right now. He's sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him, staring blankly at the wall. I can tell he's listening to the radio, concentrating on the broadcasters voice and seemingly nothing else.

I asked him if he called Catherine. He asked me why I thought it would be necessary. I said that she might have some news, and Quatre just looked at me and said that if he called Catherine he might miss something about Trowa, and that clogging the phone line wouldn't be helpful if Trowa were trying to call.

I told him that Trowa already could have tried calling but since he was here instead of at his own place, he stopped trying. Quatre told me to shut up, Hilde brought in more coffee, and we pretty much left it at that. 

I'm starting to think that we should get the wallpaper changed. It looks like it spins after you've downed a hefty portion of caffeine. I bet if I were to cut my wrist open, rich black coffee would pour out of my veins instead of blood.

Did I mention it's late and we're stressed and tired?

Heero just recommended that we try and get some sleep. One look at Quatre tells me he isn't even going to try and Hilde seems willing to keep him company.

"Get some rest, boss," a ghost of her usual smile quickly gracing her features.

I let Heero dumbly drag me to our room. I tired and jittery and stressed and scared and relieved and grateful and eighty thousand other emotions I can't even identify. It just gets to be such a burden after awhile.

It's just me and Heero; I turn into his shoulder, and his arms seem like they were waiting for me. For the second time that evening, I cry uncontrollably, releasing all that I feel onto the warm, comfortable presence Heero gives.

He's so much stronger than I am; he hasn't shed a tear since we learned the news. I'll try to figure out why later, but this emotional catharsis comes with a price, and I suddenly feel exhausted.

Let's try to sleep on it and hope some good news will come tomorrow.

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku

[1] Are their sugar maple trees in California? I don't think so. I hope not. That was the only part I didn't do research for in this entire part. Gomen. ^-^;;

[2] All right, I lied. I don't remember if it was Russia, the Soviet Union, or the USSR at this point in time. Pretty sure it was the USSR, so that's what I'm using.

A/N: I never saw the movie "Pearl Harbor". I heard it sucked and was very accurate historically; a lot of information in the above part was either pre-known from school or found online.

Yes, this part is shorter than the others, but it was also written in an hour and a half. ^-^ I wanted this one day to be covered in one part and written differently from any of the others, FYI.


	9. Part Seven

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, uber-bitch Relena

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Back to "regular" POV, but Duo seems to be thinking more in this part. -_-;; Last, like, half of this part is a speech by Winston Churchill that I got off the British Library of Information's website. I love Winston Churchill, so please actually read that part! It's for period-effect, here, people!

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Seven

December 8, 1941 

Duo got up the next morning with a surreal feeling in the pit of his stomach. The sort of feeling you have when either something utterly wonderful or horribly wrong happened the day before; the only difference being the day-after reaction. Wonderful things tend to be followed with disbelief, whereas terrible things get shadowed by denial _and_ disbelief.

He didn't want to get out of bed; it felt warm, familiar…safe – safe from the news being broadcasted through the muted tones in the other room. Duo could hear a muffled voice, but no particular words. Like someone was speaking to him but he was hiding his head under the pillow. He sighed audibly. _But you can't hide forever. It doesn't matter how much you want to._

Duo looked around for Heero, but it seemed he had gotten up already. He glanced briefly in the mirror; on a normal morning, he would have been smirking at the hairs that escaped his braid, sticking up and out at funny angles and reflecting the light in a way that made it look like a fuzzy halo, but because of the gloomy mood cast over the day, it seemed trivial.

_We're going to war._

_It doesn't take much thinking to figure that out. FDR needed leverage and this was perfect. The public is outraged. Congress will have to be crazy to not enter the United States into the war. I know it's necessary, but I don't enjoy it. I'd been hoping the British would have stopped the Axis Powers, but the other countries seem to be seeing America as a catalyst that will turn the war. They need our help, and we have every right to give it to them, but I've heard stories about the last war. Families torn apart on the battlefields, left without fathers, brothers, uncles, husbands, and friends. I don't know what I would do if I lost everyone around me; dealing with my father's death was difficult enough. I couldn't even grasp the concept of being the only one left._

_I always hated Mondays; this one just seems to be the epitome._ Duo quickly threw on a pair of pants and a shirt before leaving his and Heero's bedroom. The radio was announcing the latest numbers: 2,403 dead, 1,178 wounded; 169 aircraft destroyed; 3 ships destroyed, 18 damaged. The radio didn't seem to be telling the good news, like how many had lived without a scratch and how many ships or planes were still left.

"Hey…Quatre…how you feeling?"

"Numb," he simply replied, never directing his gaze in Duo's direction. He looked it, too, from what Duo could tell. He didn't look like he slept too well last night. _I know I didn't. The nightmares seem to attack hardest when I'm stressed._

"Any _good_ news?"

Quatre shook his head. "Roosevelt is going to urge Congress to declare war."

_That's not a surprise. He's not going to just sit back in his wheelchair, twiddling his thumbs while the American public throws rotting fruit at the White House._

The sound of the doorbell ringing reminded Duo that he still had a business to attend to; _I'll probably stick a piece of paper on the door saying "Closed Undeterminably", but that's not realistic._

He hurried down the two flights of stairs; Hilde was in the main room arguing with non other than Relena Darlian. Relena seemed to be looking for Duo, but Hilde kept pointing at a sign on the door: "Closed for Remembrance". _She's beaten me already._

Duo cleared his throat, making his presence known. "Relena, we're not open, so you're going to have to leave."

The blonde pursed her lips. "This will only take a minute."

The braided man walked over to the window, leaning an elbow on his forearm while pinching the bridge of his nose. The streets were busy, filled with cars and pedestrians already – all of which were dressed in black. "It better only take a minute."

"It will," Relena put on a sugarcoated smile, her voice dripping with honey, "but your _secretary_ needs to leave first."

Duo didn't need to look over at Hilde to know the young woman was ready to kill the other. _She can pummel Relena to oblivion some other time._ "Hilde, can you call the radio station and see if there's any news about Trowa?"

"Sure, boss," the smaller girl responded. Duo noted the glare she gave Relena before returning to the upper floor.

"The merger is still an open option, Duo. Yesterday's…event can provide us with a lovely source of income."

Duo spun around to look down on Relena. "What are you talking about?"

"The attack on Pearl Harbor, of course," she smiled. "A friend of yours was there, correct? Think of the possibilities. Did you know that 1,177 soldiers died in the USS Arizona? You could sell the smallest _piece_ of it and make a fortune! Or even better, sell a piece from one of the Jap bombers that sunk it."

"You're disgusting, Relena."

Relena laughed. "To you, maybe, but I'm being profitable. I'm sure your associate Nakamura-san could get a piece of a Jap fighter for us. Or even you to sell to me."

"Damn, girl, the fantasies you allow yourself to indulge in… The merger's _never_ going to happen, and there's no way in hell I would ever help you make a profit."

She pursed her lips again. "Well, I suppose I could always call the police…"

Duo snorted. "And _what_ would you report?"

Relena just allowed a smirk to crawl across her features. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind an ear and straightened the folds in her skirt. _She doesn't have anything. There's nothing she could have. She just wanted me to feel threatened._ "That…friend of yours. Heero Yuy. He's Japanese, isn't he?" _Fuck._ Duo could tell where she was going with this. It wouldn't matter if Heero was innocent or not; the freshly stirred up anti-Japanese sentiment yesterday's events caused would wipe aside any means of justice. "Probably hasn't been in the States very long, either. I would've remembered a face like that if I saw it before, especially since he hangs around with _you_."

"What's your point, Darlian?"

"How do you know he wasn't selling out any information? Rather convenient, don't you think? Go on a business trip to Hiroshima and return with that man. I mean, why else would he voluntarily come here with you?"

_Because he loves me, you bitch!_ Duo had to shake off the question with a shrug, as much as he hated to do it. "A lot of people from other countries immigrate here. Why should their reasoning concern me?"

Relena moved closer, leaning into Duo to whisper into his ear. "Because I think your _friend_ could be sending information back to his motherland." She leaned back, going towards the door to leave. "Think about what I said; I really don't want to call the police. I'd rather have Heero for myself." With that, she left.

"I'd hate to see her business dealings if _that's_ how she tries to motivate people."

Duo sighed. "I'm starting to wish _she_ went off to fight the war and her brother stayed home to run their company."

"I'll gladly beat the shit out of her if you want."

The young man smiled at his childhood friend. "That wouldn't look very professional. You'd have to get her into a dark, inner city alley…_then_ you can beat the shit out of her." Hilde laughed at his response, and the day almost seemed _normal_ for that brief moment, until Duo realized how he had managed to get rid of the woman in the first place. "So any news on Trowa?"

She shook her head. "I left the number and the guy I talked to said he'd call if they find anything. They said its too confusing to keep everybody straight and the, um, the…bodies…some of them are charred so badly or mutilated so much they'll need to dig out the dental records."

They headed back upstairs in silence. Quatre was still sitting, curled inside himself, on the sofa, and Heero – _He must've been in the shower_ – was sitting on a chair at the table next to the kitchenette. He was slouched forward in the chair, wrists resting on knees, and staring blankly at the radio.

"Who is it?" Duo asked, moving to stand behind his lover and slowly massaging Heero's shoulders.

"Churchill."

"The British Prime Minister? Why is he…"

Hilde gave him a look, "Duo, shut up."

"As soon as I heard last night that Japan had attacked the United States, my first feeling was that Parliament should be immediately summoned. We are fighting for the maintenance of a parliamentary system, and it is indispensable to our system of Government that Parliament should play its full part in all the important acts of the state and on all the great occasions in the conduct of the war. The great number of members who attended in spite of the shortness of the notice shows the zeal and strictness with which the members of both Houses attend to their duties. 

"You will remember that a month ago, with the full approval of the nation and of the Empire, I pledged the word of Great Britain that should the United States become involved in a war with Japan, a British declaration would follow within the hour. I therefore spoke to President Roosevelt on the Atlantic telephone last night with a view to arranging the timing of our respective declarations. The President told me that he would this morning send a message to Congress, which of course as you all know is the instrument, the constitutional instrument, by which alone a United States declaration of war can be made. 

"And I assured him that we would follow immediately. However, it soon appeared that British territory in Malaya had also been the object of a Japanese attack, and later on it was announced from Tokyo that the Japanese High Command – not the Imperial Japanese Government – but the Japanese High Command had declared that a state of war existed with Great Britain and the United States. 

"There has been for a long time in Japan a number of military societies – secret societies – which have asserted their view of what the policy of Japan should be by murdering the Ministers whom they thought were not sufficiently "jingo" for their tastes. And it is to these bodies that the most strange and violent action of Japan's, so fateful for her future, must be ascribed. 

"In view of the attack, and of this declaration, there was no need to wait for the declaration by Congress, and in any case there was the complication that American time is nearly six hours behind ours. The Cabinet, therefore, which met at half-past-twelve today, have authorized an immediate declaration of war upon Japan. Instructions to this effect were sent to our Ambassador in Tokyo, and the Japanese chargé d'affaires in London and his staff have been given their passports. 

"Meanwhile, hostilities have already begun. The Japanese began a landing in British territory in Northern Malaya at about 6 o'clock – that's 1 a.m. local time yesterday – and they were immediately engaged by our troops who were there waiting for them. 

"The Home Office measures against Japanese nationals were set in motion a little after 10 last night. You will see, therefore, that no time has been lost, and you will see also that we are actually ahead of our engagements. 

"The Dutch Government in the East Indies – the Royal Netherlands Government – who preside over the important Oriental possessions of Holland, at once marked their solidarity with Great Britain and the United States. At 3 in the morning the Netherlands Minister informed our Foreign Office that his Government were telling the Japanese Government that in view of the hostile acts perpetrated by Japanese forces against two powers with whom the Netherlands maintain particularly close relations, they consider that, as a consequence, a state of war now exists between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Japan. 

"I don't know yet what part Siam will be called upon to play in this fresh war, but we have reports that Japanese troops have landed at Singora near the Kra Isthmus, which is in Siamese territory on the frontier of Malaya, very close to where the landing was made in our own territory. Just before Japan went to war – on the day before – I had sent the Siamese Prime Minister, or Thailand Prime Minister, the following message: 'There is a possibility of imminent Japanese invasion of your country. If you are attacked, defend yourselves. The preservation of the true independence and sovereignty of Thailand is a British interest, and we shall regard an attack on you as an attack upon ourselves.'

"This afternoon we have had the speech of the President of the United States, addressed to the Congress under the most formal and solemn circumstances, and calling for an immediate recognition of a state of war. 

"It is worth while looking for a moment at the manner in which the Japanese have begun their assault upon the English-speaking world, and particularly upon the United States. Every circumstance of calculated and characteristic Japanese treachery was employed. The Japanese envoys, Nomura and Kurusu, there in Washington, were ordered to prolong their mission in the United States in order to keep conversations going while the surprise attack was being prepared – an attack which was to be delivered before any declaration of war. The President, you will remember, on Sunday had made an appeal to the Emperor of Japan, reminding him of the ancient friendship between the United States and Japan, by which Japan has greatly benefited, and impressing upon him the importance of preserving the peace in the Pacific. The attack upon the United States ships in Pearl Harbor, thousands of miles away from Japan, was the base and brutal reply. 

"No one can doubt that every effort to bring about a peaceful solution was made by the Government of the United States. We have all seen the immense patience and composure which they have shown in the face of the growing Japanese menace. But now all that is over. And now that the issue is joined in a most direct manner, it only remains for the two great Democracies to face their task with whatever strength God may give them. 

"We must hold ourselves very fortunate, and I think we may say that our affairs have not been ill-guided, when we reflect that in all our period of weakness after Dunkirk we were not attacked alone – while we were alone – by Japan – or indeed at any time in 1940, before the United States had fully realized the dangers which threatened the whole world. In all that period we were in very great danger of having an attack made upon us in the Far East to which we could not have made any adequate resistance. But so precarious and narrow was the margin upon which we then lived, that we did not dare express the sympathy which we have all along felt for the heroic people of China. We were even forced for a short time in the Summer of 1940 to agree to the closing of the Burma Road by which they get their supplies. We had to bow for the time to the force of the hurricane. But later, as time passed, at the beginning of this year – as soon as we had regathered our strength after the Battle of Britain had been won – we reversed that policy, and the House will remember that both I and the Foreign Secretary have felt able to make increasingly outspoken declarations of friendship. 

"When I said this in the House this afternoon, there was general assent that we have moved steadily forward, as our strength has grown, in our declarations of friendship to the Chinese people and their great leader, General Chiang Kai-shek. 

"We have always been friends with the Chinese since the beginning of this vile outrage upon them more than four years ago, and last night I cabled to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, assuring him that henceforward we would face the common foe together. 

"Although the imperative demands of the war in Europe and in Africa have strained our resources, vast and growing though they be, you and all the Empire will notice that some of the finest ships in the Royal Navy have reached their stations in the Far East at a very convenient moment. Every preparation in our power has been made, every preparation which our resources allowed – and you must not forget the many calls upon us – has been made. And I do not doubt that wherever we are attacked we shall give a good account of ourselves. 

"The closest accord has been established with the powerful American naval and air forces, as also with the strong, efficient forces belonging to the Royal Netherlands Government in the Netherlands East Indies. All this has been arranged. We have our great preoccupations here in Europe, but at the same time everything that our resources, everything that forethought can do, has been done to prepare for this long threatened storm in the Far East which has now broken upon us and on our friends across the Atlantic Ocean. 

"When we think of the insane ambition and insatiable appetite, which have caused this vast, melancholy extension of the war, we can only feel that Hitler's madness has infected the Japanese minds and that the root of the evil and its branch must be extirpated together. 

"My friends, let me say this. It is of the highest importance that there should be no underrating of the gravity of the new dangers we have to meet, either here in this Island, or those dangers which the United States have to meet. The enemy has attacked with an audacity which may spring from recklessness, but which may also spring from a conviction of strength. 

"One thing is certain: The need for greater effort in munitions production. That must impress itself upon every mind tonight. It is quite certain that some of the supplies on which we had counted, which had been diverted to Russia, will have to be made good by us. It may well be that in the next few months we shall have a gap to fill. It is particularly necessary that all munition workers, all those who are engaged in war industries, should make a further effort proportionate to the magnitude of the perils and to the magnitude of our cause. Particularly does this apply to tanks, and above all to aircraft-aircraft will be more than ever necessary now that the war has spread over so many wide spaces of the earth. I appeal to all those in the factories to do their utmost to make sure that we make an extra contribution to the general resources of the great alliance of free peoples, which has been hammered and forged into strength under and amidst the fires of war. 

"The ordeal to which the English-speaking world and our heroic Russian Allies are being exposed will certainly be hard, especially at the outset, and it will probably be long. But when we look around us, upon the somber panorama of the world, we have no reason to doubt the justice of our cause, nor have we any reason to doubt that our strength and our will power will be sufficient to sustain it. 

"We have at least four-fifths of the population of the globe upon our side. We are responsible for their safety – we are responsible for their future. And as I told the House of Commons this afternoon, in the past we had a light which flickered, in the present we have a light which flames, and in the future there will be a light which will shine calm and resplendent over all the land and all the sea!"

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku


	10. Part Eight

Title: Morning Will Come

Author: Emily, roguegirl@att.net

Warnings: yaoi, het, language, violence, possible OOC, EU?, un-betaed, less than lime but still sex [orange maybe? (it's pretty sappy, too)], weird dreams, bastardization, racial slurs (sorry! it's for the story, I swear! don't hurt me…)

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11

Archive: Want it? Take it. Just please give me credit.

Disclaimer: None of these characters and their personalities are mine, but the story's plot and concepts _are_ mine, so please no stealing my creations. Unless you want to contribute accompanying art…then be my guest, but I want to see!

Comments: Sorry this took so long. Had major writers' block. Well, technically it was just on this fic because my muses wanted the ZER0 idea to get out in the open, so I have three parts of that and now I want to at least get this part of MWC done. ^_^

Morning Will Come 

                        Part Eight

December 8, 1941 

No one could think of anything to say to follow Churchill's speech. It was official; the whole world was going to war with itself, and all efforts to stop it were no longer peaceful.

The United States was going to war.

Americans were going to fight on foreign soil and die on foreign soil. Families would be torn apart, lives would be ruined.

But that's what the people wanted, isn't it?

*~**~*

_December 11, 1941_

_It's been hard getting life the way it was before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was only four days ago, but it feels like four lifetimes._

_Relena hasn't returned since we last saw her. I'm wondering if she really is going through with her threat, but she's too empty to try anything like. She can make threats, but she can't follow through with them._

_But I still get scared. Scared that the military will come, knocking down the door, and accuse Heero of crimes he didn't commit. And then they'll take him away._

_But they couldn't do that, could they? The US Congress declared war on Germany and Italy today, so now we really are at war with the whole world – Europe on one side, Asia on the other. If America sees the Japanese living within her borders as a threat, wouldn't the same have to be assumed of the German and Italian persons? There are anti-Semitics in this country. Will they be held on the same level as Hitler himself?_

_Quatre's been clogging the phone-line for the past three hours, now. I'd be on his case, but that wouldn't be right of me. Tears sprang to his eyes the second Hilde handed him the phone with a doleful expression on her face, but they became tears of joy almost instantaneously as he gave Hilde the bird and shared the good news._

_Trowa's still alive._

_We still haven't heard if he's sustained any injuries or why the hell he couldn't call earlier because my blond friend was slowly-but-surely having a mental breakdown, but everything seems to be all right for the moment._

_Or at least as close to all right as things can seem in the middle of a war._

_Thank God Trowa's all right. This means Quatre will go back to his place and stop spending nights on our sofa with the radio on next to his head. It's hard to resume normal, ahem, nocturnal pursuits with a depressed Quatre in the other room…a depressed  Quatre who seemed constantly in between alertness and sleep._

_I don't want to have to fight for the war. My father knew people that did, and I can't help but wonder what they would have been like if they hadn't seen the things they did. I will never be able to understand the basis behind the phrase "All's fair in love and war"[1]. War could never be fair. The victor in war is determined by whoever kills more of the other side's people, but thousands of people die on both sides; maybe I'm just missing something, but I wouldn't like to be recognized as the winner just because I killed more people than the other guy._

_Hilde's talking to me right now. She thinks I'm doing something important besides just getting all my thoughts down on paper. And people say that_ I'm _good at carrying a one-sided conversation…she isn't even paying attention to me for a response!_

_I got a letter from Solo yesterday. He told Mom he was going back to college, apparently, and he wants me to tell her where he really went._

_Solo can be a real ass sometimes. He's a psychology major. Isn't he supposed to know that having me tell Mom is not going to alleviate the situation any? Fuck…_

*~**~*

"Duo? Are you paying _any_ attention?"

"Huh?" Duo's expression turned sheepish. "Sorry, Hilde. I was ignoring you. What were you saying?"

The small young woman rolled her eyes. "I _said_ that there's a letter from Nakamura-san. It's even written in English. Really bad English, grant you, but I think I got the gist of it." Hilde looked up, expecting some sort of response, but the braided man just looked at his friend expectantly. "It's essentially saying how Nakamura-san hopes that the recent events between our two countries haven't affected your wish to continue business because the view of the country isn't always the same as the view of the businessman and something about wishing cranes to cover the globe."

Duo sighed, leaning into his hands. He could feel his sinuses flaring up and it was aggravating knowing that he would be in too much pain to open his eyes any minute now and he probably had things to get done. "Just tell them 'continue business as usual' or something. Keep it simple and try not to say it in a way that will confuse anybody."

"Sure, boss. I think I can manage that." She said with a wink and left.

*~**~*

_Maybe I'm just afraid of death, and that's why I'm wishing the effects of the war could bypass us, somehow. Took me long enough to deal with Dad's. I couldn't imagine how I would tolerate the loss of Solo, Trowa, Quatre, or even Heero…_

_If there really is a God, why is He allowing people to suffer? I have heard rumors of Nazi death-camps in Germany where the people Hitler prosecutes die by the hundreds each day, just to satisfy some sick politicians. I have heard of Jewish immigrants pouring into the Eastern coast from Europe by the boatloads; they left everything at home because they were too scared to try to go back and get it, and conditions for them here aren't much better, but at least here they won't die at the hands of Hitler…_

*~**~*

The bedroom door shut with a click that sounded louder in the quiet of the house.

"Trowa's alive," Duo said softly, trying not to destroy the solemnity of the atmosphere.

"I heard," came Heero's slightly accented response. That caught the American's attention automatically. His lover's Japanese accent didn't normally show unless he was extremely worn or stressed out. "Things aren't going to get any better."

"I know." Duo put the journal aside on the table next to the bed, watching Heero strip down to his underwear, and feeling the mattress sag under the other man's weight. Duo sought out his lover's warmth and curled against him. "I'm afraid of what might happen."

"We'll pull through," Heero placed a kiss on Duo's forehead, nose, cheek, and neck. "I promise," the punctuated the statement with a soul searing kiss, both young men searching for love, hope, and strength. Duo moaned in the back of his throat, and soon enough they both ended up naked, skin glistening with sweat in the soft moonlight, proclaiming undying devotion and unyielding promises into the nighttime air. When they collapsed, spent, on the mattress, neither had time to remember the war brewing around them; it was overridden with the sense of security in a lover's embrace.

*~**~*

_Duo was floating somewhere; it looked like the ocean, a deep turquoise filled with swirls of bubbles, but he wasn't fighting for breath. The world was slow and dream-like, and empty. Duo tried to walk, but he couldn't seem to get anywhere, so he tried swimming. That got him a little farther, but something kept pulling him back. Something was holding him down so he couldn't move away._

_Duo looked down at his wrists. Red ribbons held him captive, and they were around his ankles, as well. Curiosity peaked, Duo tried to find what these red ribbons were tying him to, and it didn't take him long to find out._

_Heero was floating slightly below him in a ray of sunlight, but he didn't seem to be awake. The ribbons were tying them together, though, and they wouldn't come apart, but the ribbons didn't seem to be hindering any motion. They just kept him from traveling very far unless Heero went with him, but Heero didn't seem to be awake._

_Duo moved closer to his Japanese husband. He knew their marriage wasn't illegal, but he still liked thinking that Heero was his, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part. Duo didn't believe that they parted at death, however. Death only served as a barrier when the spouses weren't in the same plane of existence, but when both have died, they were eternally together. Duo liked thinking that his parents would be reunited once his mother died. It made death seem less lonely._

_Duo reached out and grabbed Heero's hand, eager to get a response out of him, but the second they made contact, they were transported out of the ocean-world and into a desert. The sun was hot and painful to look at; ugly, jagged rocky mountains could be seen a little ways off, and there seemed to be buses everywhere, but they were all empty – just row upon row upon row of empty buses._

_"Heero!" Duo called out, and his lover turned around with a sad expression in his deep sapphire eyes. Heero moved his mouth to respond, but no sound came out with the motions. This only made the Japanese man's expression more heartbreaking. "Heero, where are we? What's wrong? Why can't you talk?"_

_Heero looked down at the sand and seemed to get an idea. He began tracing out letters with the toe of his shoe, but the second he finished one letter, the wind would howl and blow it away. Duo looked out a strangled cry of frustration, looking around for some way for them to communicate, but they were in the middle of a desert, and even the wind was keeping words away from Heero._

_Duo couldn't help but notice the tears in his lover's eyes. Something wasn't right. Heero leaned forward, joining their lips in a kiss made salty by Heero's tears. Duo licked his lips involuntarily, tasting more of the tears to realize that he was crying, as well, and the red ribbons that bound them together were getting longer and longer. _

_A new bus was appearing in the distance, and as the ribbon kept stretching, Heero got on the bus. It turned around and drove off, and the last thing Duo saw of his lover before jolting away was being blown a kiss goodbye._

*~**~*__

_January 2, 1942_

_Trowa showed up today. The look on Quatre's face was priceless. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy yet so sad at the same time._

_It reminded me of when my father died. Mom was so upset at losing him, yet so grateful that Solo and I were all right. It was like she wasn't sure on how she was supposed to feel. She never cried in front of us, but we could hear her at night, and then Solo went back to the university, so it was just me, sitting up late at night listening to Mom rearrange the photographs on her bureau only to cry herself to sleep every night. I think that was partly my fault. I had acted so separate…so distant and uncaring that I probably made her feel worse than she should have. I know now a lot of things I wish I had known before and just saved everyone the grief, but I was too locked up in my own personal prison of grief and guilt at the time to notice anyone else's problems._

_And that's what Quatre reminded me of today. He was just so happy to see Trowa, alive and in one piece, but at the same time he knew that Trowa most likely had friends that died and saw a lot of things that keep him from sleeping soundly at night._

_And he did look like hell. His deep emerald gaze almost seemed haunted or like he was still amazed that he was alive. He smiled at Quatre the second he saw him, and I think I'm getting waterlogged lately because I've been a lot more emotional. _

_That's what happens when you have a mental wall for several years and all of a sudden you fall in love with a guy who knocks it right down. You have to make up for all the tears held back before. Not to mention that dream with the ribbons keeps haunting me. It's all I can think about. I sincerely hope it doesn't mean anything because it really is scaring the living piss out of me!_

_Other than that, Trowa looked pretty good for a guy who survived an attack that wiped out an entire military base. I mean, no visible damage that I could see. I'm sure he had scars and burns, but half of his face wasn't blown off, and he still has two arms, two legs, and ten fingers, so I guess he got off better than other people he knew, which probably makes him feel even worse._

_I wish I knew the guy better. It would seem a little weird now for me to just be like, "Hey, Trowa, if you ever want to talk, I'm here, man," but I figure Quatre can get him to spill faster than I could. Quatre's good at that, for some reason. That's probably why he could put up with me during my bout of self-loathing and manic depression. Quatre could sweet talk information out of anybody; that's why he works for me now._

_So Trowa walked in the door, trying to look casual and not attract any attention, but when you're dropped off in a government vehicle, we tend to notice these things. Not much goes on in this area of town. On really slow days, we watch the old lady across the street prune and hedge her roses. Seriously. So the second Trowa walked in the door, he was practically barreled over by his boyfriend, who was so genuinely happy to see him that his smile was reaching his eyes._

_That's the thing about Quatre. He's just so damn expressive that you can read him like a book. They were still in the doorway, Quatre seeing if Trowa was hungry/thirsty/tired and I'm standing back wondering if I should be laughing or crying. Laughing because it really was a funny sight, but if it were Heero and I, I probably would have been worse.  _

_We welcome Trowa back to San Francisco, Quatre never leaving his side, and they motion to go upstairs. Trowa looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and I had no problem with him using the sofa or even the bed if he wanted to. He smiled slightly, Quatre ever being the mother hen._

_And then Heero came home. I kiss him chastely, telling him I missed him and all that little cutesy stuff because damn it, we're in love, and Heero welcomes Trowa back and tells him he's happy that he's all right. Trowa's giving Heero this strange look the whole time that's really confusing me until that fringe of him moves away from his other eye and I can actually tell what expression is on his face._

_He was glaring at Heero! Glaring! I thought they were getting along well before; you know, quiet guys tend to be comfortable in each other's company because they don't have to worry about small talk, or at least that's what Solo said when I asked about it, so I couldn't figure out for the life of me why Trowa was giving my Heero an evil look for all he was worth._

_I'll just write it as I remember it happening._

_"So how long did you know?" Trowa had asked, gaze set on my Japanese lover who seemed just as confused as I was._

_"Know about what?"_

_"The attack that you and your people planned," came Trowa's reply, and I look over at Quatre who looked back at me and I think we had a similar oh-shit expression on our face._

_"Me and my people? I had nothing to do with it!"_

_"How do we know that? Seems rather odd that you would come home with Duo after knowing him for not even three days."_

_"Trowa, what the hell are you talking about?" I remember saying._

_Quatre was just as shocked. "Trowa, you're stressed out and tired; please get some rest. You're being foolish!"_

_Trowa was glaring daggers. "You're the ones being the fools. I don't want to see him or hear him. He's a fucking Jap!" Trowa left, practically slamming the door behind him._

_We were all in disbelief. I think Heero was even in a minor state of shock because his hands were trembling in clenched fists. _

_Quatre gave us all apologetic looks. "I'm sorry; he'll realize what he said was inappropriate soon enough and feel terrible for all this…"_

_I nodded in my friend's direction. "Just go after him and shape him up before I find my own way to." Quatre's lips tightened into a grim line before he left. _

_Heero was still shaking for the next couple hours. I think it has something to do with what happened to his parents…_

_Dear God, who is the good guy anymore? Why are we being affected like this?_

*~**~*

            Tsuzuku

[1] I don't know what year this quote is from, so it might be an anachronism.


End file.
